The other Godhra – an oasis of peace

GODHRA (KUTCH): On all nine nights of Navratri, this village witnesses a mad scramble for sponsoring Amba Mata’s aarti. This tradition, called Uchchamni, is a kind of bidding to perform the ritual. Most of the times, the highest bidders are Muslims. Welcome to Godhra – not the ‘Ground Zero’ of 2002 Gujarat riots, but a nondescript namesake, located 15 km from the coastal town of Mandvi in Kutch.This Godhra is a shining example of Hindu-Muslim unity.
“Navratri is the strongest binding factor between Hindus and Muslims here. Nobody minds if we Muslims sponsor the aarti,” said Ismail Nareja, deputy sarpanch of the village where 700 persons out of the total population of 4,500 are Muslims. In January this year, the village sarpanch Valji Bagda gave out a stern message to disruptive elements and got four Hindu youths arrested for damaging religious flags of Muslims on the day of Eid-e-Milad.
Tension had gripped the village after the incident but this was defused soon by elders from both communities. “This was the first incident stoking communal tension in our village in a very very long time. I knew who the culprits were and ensured they are brought to book,” Bagda said. On their part, Muslims have imposed a ban on non-vegetarian food around Salalshah dargah in the village where majority of devotees are Hindus.
“We constructed Prerna Dham, an all-religion centre depicting the essence of all faiths, in the village. We want everyone to come here, be it Hindu or Muslim, and take back a message of communal harmony,” says Shantilal Shah, the temple’s trustee based in Mumbai. Incidentally, one of the earliest mosques in India was built in Bhadreshwar in Kutch, by a Jain merchant Sheth 32Jagdusha with a view to attract Muslim merchants to the port.