Harmony is second nature to them

Raheel Dhattiwala / TNN / Feb 24, 2007, 21:20 IST

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When Ahmedabad burned in 1969, 1985, 1992 and 2002, these impoverished residents did not suffer a scratch.

'To mind others' business, is none of your business'.
'Always keep your cool in times of crisis'.
'Don't criticise the ways of God'.
AHMEDABAD: These are among the 16 commandments of peace adorning the walls of the Ram Rahim Nagar Jhopdawasi Mandal -- the 25,000-strong Hindu-Muslim slum dwelling in Behrampura that shoots to global fame each time the city gets engulfed in communal passions.Residents here will show off steel baron Laxmi Mittal's letter lauding them for their forbearance in 2002.

When Ahmedabad burned in 1969, 1985, 1992 and 2002, these illiterate, impoverished residents did not suffer a scratch. "We may not have degrees, but we have humanism which they don't," says Mandal president Natwarbhai Rawat, a class 4 school dropout.
Rawat's presidentship will continue for five years, after which a Muslim will take charge as part of the tradition of Ram Rahimnagar, maintained for years in this pocket, 60 per cent of which are Muslims.

The genesis of humanism in the Mandal perhaps began the day it was established in 1973 by three men of different faiths - Madarsingh Thakor, a Hindu, Amarsingh Gandhi, a Sikh and Gulabbhai Muslim.
Five years after the Gujarat carnage, residents smirk at the state of affairs in Gujarat. "The state government may harp on progress, but it did not help release 'Parzania'" says vice-president Pyar Ali Kapadia.
Nalini Trivedi, professor of sociology at HK Arts College who has conducted extensive studies on this slum dwelling finds this Dalit-Muslim amity most peculiar, especially after Dalits were lured into the Hindutva campaign, post 1985. "The economic interdependency of both the communities has made them realise the importance of humanism without having studied it in books," she says.
For Somabhai Makwana, builder of the temple and dargah and Mahant Punjabhai Ramabhai who takes care of the two buildings within the slums, it's all about "common sense".
But all is not hunky dory. Committee members AH Badami and Karamat Shaikh Badami, say "We welcome the appreciation. But it is ironical that people who maintained peace in crisis have to do petty jobs to fend for themselves".

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