Gujarat: Hindus help reopen mosque after 30 yrs in riot hit locality

February 26, 2017

Ahmedabad, Feb 26: The call to prayer from the mosque near Bakri Pol in the communally sensitive Kalupur area is no ordinary azaan. Heard for the first time in 30 years in March 2016, it signifies the voice of compassion and respect drowning out hatred. Kalupur, a patchwork of Hindu and Muslim ghettos, was bloodied by communal riots in 1984. Since the nearly 100-year-old mosque is located in a Hindu locality — near Ramji, Nagdalla Hanuman, and Shesh Narayan temples — Muslims began to avoid it to avert troubles.

sec 1

Polarization intensified during the riots that broke out after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1993. By then the Kalupur mosque was overrun with foliage and had begun to crumble.

Paradoxically, after the communal riots of 2002, which had riven Gujarat, residents around the mosque were moved by a collective, voluntary desire to save it. Hindus reached out to their Muslim brethren, cleared the wild foliage, and contributed resources for repairs. The mosque reopened in March 2016. A year later, people in the neighbourhood affirm that the reconstruction effort has cemented bonds between communities. So much so, one set of keys to the mosque has been entrusted to Hindus.

"One set of keys is with Poonam Parekh and Kaushik Rami who sell flowers near the mosque," said Aziz Gandhi, social worker in Dariapur. Rami said he lights incense sticks twice a day near the mosque. "We are happy that the mosque that was closed for over three decades is now filled with devotees," he said. The priest of the Nagdalla Hanuman Temple, Chandrakant Sharma, said: "With Haji Usmangani Mansuri and other trustees of the mosque, we renovated the structure." He said that previously Muslim youths had to go to other mosques to offer namaaz. "Now, they they don't have to venture out of their locality," Sharma said. Hamidullah Shaikh, a Dariapur resident, said: "Our Hindu brothers helped us bring labourers to renovate the mosque." It appears a major breach in society has been lovingly repaired.

sec 2

sec 3

sec 4

Comments

Ajz
 - 
Monday, 27 Feb 2017

Better to send these coastal senseless goondas to Gujarat Kalupur..

saif
 - 
Monday, 27 Feb 2017

Real ACHE DIN not from BJP but from true Indian Hindus of Gujarat Kalupur...really everyone need to salute those Hindus....Its my India

Skazi
 - 
Monday, 27 Feb 2017

Masha Allah ..... But in coastal districts the senseless goondas are fighting each other .....

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 9,2020

Udupi, Apr 9: Deputy Commissioner G. Jagadeesha said that criminal cases would be booked against owners of houses and sheds who were collecting rent from those, including workers, staying in rented houses.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Mr Jagadeesha said that to prevent the spread of COVID-19, restrictions had been imposed throughout the district under Section 144 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The administration had through an earlier order made it clear that house owners and shed owners should not collect rent from their tenants and workers for March and April.

But the administration had received complaints that some house owners and shed owners were collecting rent despite the order.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 2,2020

Kalaburgi, Jan 2: At least 10 students sustained injuries when a private bus carrying students of a school on an educational tour rammed into a tree today morning.

The mishap occurred when the students of Ayyappa School located in Chennaveera Nagar were going around the city in a bus during their tour.

The bus crashed into a tree near Venkatagiri Hotel on New Jewargi Road in the city.

A case has been registered at a traffic police station.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 31,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 31: Venkara Raghava, a software engineer from Bengaluru, who was infected with the coronavirus has recovered and is currently "doing perfectly well".

"I am doing perfectly well now. I had travelled to Los Angeles via Heathrow airport and that is when I came in contact with many travellers. I might have picked up the infection there," Raghava told news agency.

It was in Los Angeles when he started getting a 'low-grade fever' which led him to prepone his flight to Bengaluru. "When I landed back in Bengaluru on March 8, I had a fever and I isolated myself. The same day I went to a hospital where my travel history was taken and I tested positive for COVID-19", he said.

The next day, he was admitted to the isolation centre. His entire family was also tested but the results came back negative.

When asked about what does suffering from COVID-19 feel like, he responded that it was a like a regular viral fever and was "nothing to be scared of". "The fever is very grinding, and since my childhood, I never had a fever. I had a fever for almost 15 days consistently 100 degrees (F)," he said.

About his experience at the isolation centre, he said that it was an experience unlike that of a hospital. "At the isolation centre, one has to take care of themselves, unlike a hospital where doctors and nurses take care of the patient. I had to put a wet cloth on myself and you cannot overdose yourself with Calpol or Paracetamol," he said.

For him, "The tough times are now over" and now he has fully recovered but in the process, he ended up losing about five kilograms. "After the fifteenth day when I woke up with no fever, they took a test for the nose and the throat and it came back negative," he recalled, and on March 22, he was set free.

For one week, he has been in self-quarantine at home "being completely watchful" that the symptoms do not reoccur.

The number of total coronavirus cases reached 1,251 on Monday. There are 1117 active cases in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.