Walled in the mind
Fanatics are
instigating simmering communal tension in
the heart of Delhi.
If it remains
unresolved, this could be a ticking time-bomb
Akash Bisht
On a cold Sunday morning in January, residents of BK Dutt Colony (named after freedom fighter and revolutionary Batukeshwar Dutt), next to posh Jor Bagh in the heart of New Delhi, were awakened by loud shouts of a man seeking their attention on a very sensitive issue. The entire neighbourhood was soon perched on the balconies and rooftops. Accompanied by a small group, the man began his speech on a microphone after the numbers had swelled. Brothers and sisters, a tragedy has struck us. And if we dont act, it might be very late, he said dramatically. The parks where our children play are under threat of encroachment and Muslims are conspiring to usurp these parks where our children play, he thundered. His voice reverberated across the dilapidated, closed-in compound with small, upgraded rooms and homes, built for the refugees from Western Pakistan after Partition.
Another man screamed on the loudspeaker, If we dont act now, this whole colony will be taken over by them. They are building a wall around these parks in Karbala, so lets come out in large numbers and protest against this nefarious design of encroaching upon government land in the name of religion. Most seemed impressed with the fiery speeches. The group with the loudspeaker moved on towards another neighbourhood.
The parks being allegedly encroached upon have become a major bone of contention between the residents of BK Dutt Colony and Shiite Muslims who claim that the land belongs to the Waqf Board, and rightfully so, as they have legal documents to prove their claims. However, a certain group, primarily real estate sharks, is giving the whole dispute a communal hue; they openly threaten that if the land is taken over by one community, there could be a bloodbath. We will see a repeat of the Babri Masjid here; if they kill four we will kill 74, says an aggressive Preeti of BK Dutt Colony Vikas Samiti (BKCVS).
Preeti and her colleagues spit venom on the few Shia families living in the compound of Dargah Shah-e-Mardan. They are harbouring terrorists. It is possible that masterminds of the recent Hyderabad blasts are living there. This land does not belong to them and they are trying to take over the governments land. The Delhi government is handing over land worth Rs 3,200 crore to these terrorists for its vote bank politics. Sheila Dikshit is hand-in-glove with them. Mahmood Pracha, the lawyer fighting these cases, lives in her house, says Harbans Dankal, president, BKCVS. He, obviously, has no evidence to prove his claims. Dankal alleges the BJP is not supporting the Samiti since Shias are presumably BJP supporters. They are trying to align with us now as elections are near; or else, they have been supporting the Shias. Are we living in Hindustan? Even the party that calls itself a saviour of Hindus is aligning with Muslims, he adds vociferously.
With political outfits like the Bajrang Dal, Akali Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC), among others, extending support to the extremist Hindu groups, locals fear that the situation can turn worse in days to come. Just a few days back I was sitting in the balcony at night when some men arrived and claimed that they were coming to attack. I was asked to keep a weapon at all times. They gave me an iron rod and said that if anything happens I should use it. It is still in my room. I didnt know whether to believe them or not, says a senior reporter with a vernacular daily. He feels that something sinister is brewing in the neighbourhood and it is no longer safe to stay there.
The controversy has turned into simmering communal frenzy. Congress politicians like Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath, among others, have apparently stepped in to resolve the conflict, but to no avail. It is beyond politics and we will have to act soon so that the Mughal period doesnt make a comeback. How can we allow them to piss at the peepal tree? They even throw bones on the tree. How can we allow this? If the government cant do it then we will take the law into our own hands to protect our religious symbols, says a rabidly fanatical Dankal.
The controversy revolves around four properties in the campus of Dargah Shah-e-Mardan in Jor Bagh, including Qanati Masjid, Dargah Shah-e-Mardan, Chhoti Karbala and the surrounding land. In 1991, Anjuman-e-Haideri, the managing committee of Karbala, requested the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to allow the committee to build boundary walls around these properties to protect them from land- grabbers. The NDMC, in its letter, told the committee to go ahead with the construction of boundary walls to avoid encroachment on Waqf properties. However, as soon as the work began, some sections of BK Dutt Colony raised objections and physically stopped the construction.
The issue has been brewing ever since and the committee had approached the NDMC and Delhi Government to intervene and help them protect Waqf properties. However, NDMC and the Delhi government paid no heed to these requests and made no effort to stop the encroachment. The committee then approached the Delhi High Court in 2005 and requested the court to intervene. The court, in its order, said the land should be protected from trespassers and the revenue department should demarcate the boundaries of these properties. The court also noted that the committee could build a boundary wall wherever needed and police protection should be provided. Since then, whenever the committee tried to build boundary walls around these properties, it has met with resistance from sections of the local community, especially the extremists in BKCVS.
In one of the FIRs, Naqvi alleges that the local police, in collusion with these land sharks, have often provoked the members of the Anjuman-E-Haidari. This was evident when this reporter met one of the policemen posted in Chhoti Karbala. He said, This is Chhoti Karbala and all this land has been grabbed by them. I dont know what are we doing here?
Karbala is a Shiite burial ground in BK Dutt Colony and is now reserved exclusively for the burial of tazias, the ritual coffins of Imam Hussain, the prophets grandson. On the 10th day of Muharram every year, Shiite mourners from across the country gather here to honour the martyrdom of Hussain.
After the Partition, Shias migrated from this area and settled in different parts of the country or moved to Pakistan. So, there was no one to look after the Waqf land. From Safdarjung Airport to Nizammuddin, this was known as the Waqf Qudsia Begum that came under Aliganj. Post-Partition, this land was taken over by the government and some of it was encroached on by the refugees who had come from the other side of the border. Since most of the management committee of the Waqf Board consisted of government servants, they feared that raising the issue of encroachment could put their jobs at stake. The issue was never settled, says senior journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi, who lives in the same neighbourhood.
There are two nurseries on the Waqf land in Karbala that is embroiled in the controversy. Many believe that the tension in the area is being triggered by the proprietors of these nurseries. We know for a fact that this communal tension is being fuelled by Moid Khan and his brothers who run Rajdhani and Evergreen Nursery in Jor Bagh.
Hardnews
