Muslims & Hindus lived peacefully here. Then outsiders came

Purola, about 150km away from Dehradun, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. First Muslims were told in May to shut shop and leave town after an alleged incident of ‘love jihad’. Then last month they were told they could not offer Bakrid prayers in the town – the first time in 40 years that Muslims did not offer community prayers in the town.On the surface life seems to have returned to normal. Some of the members of the minority community have reopened their shops in the market. However, deep down, the recent episodes have left deep scars especially in the hearts of the elderly residents of the town. medium101589716 TOI+ spoke to two elderly residents of the town to find out what they think of the recent incidents. medium nocaption101590041Doors marked by X, Muslims are fleeing Uttarakhand medium nocaption101590066“From people inviting us to rent their shops to calls to leave the town, saw it all” – Nasir Ahmed (name changed), 61, businessmanI came to Purola in the late ’70s when I was a teenager from a village in western Uttar Pradesh. I initially worked as an assistant in a number of shops in the local market. Gradually I started my own business by renting a shop from a Hindu landlord. Those were the days when Hindu landlords used to literally hold our hands and take us to their shops requesting us to take them on rent. It was because of their love that my business did well. Purola then was peaceful and communally harmonious.From that, to protestors raising slogans against us in front of our home, asking us to leave the town, I saw it all. I couldn’t believe that this was the same town which accepted me with love. I never imagined that I would one day face such a situation. medium101589826Both my children were born and raised in Purola. As my business did well, I built a house in the town where today I live with my children and grandchildren.My son studied in the Saraswati Shishu Mandir school which is run by the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]. It was then the best school in Purola. We knew that the school is run by RSS, but despite that my son never faced any religious discrimination there. We even held the reception party of my son’s wedding in the playground of the school with the help of our Hindu brothers. I always thought of myself as a part of Purola’s society and not an outsider. I contributed to every social event held in the town including Hindu festivals. I even financially helped many Hindu friends in holding the last rites of their dear ones. But then when the people whom we considered our close friends raised slogans against us, asking us to leave the town, we were shattered. The town now seems to be calm and back to normal on the surface. But for us, the fear is still there of the possible repetition of what happened. It has created a void which cannot be healed easily. We are already planning to leave the town for the good of our younger generation. medium101589938“People with vested interests came from outside and destroyed the harmony of our town” – Mahendra Negi (name changed), 64, grocery store ownerPurola is a small town. I doubt anybody outside Uttarkashi district has heard of it. But today the whole world knows of our town and for the wrong reasons. Just because some people disturbed the peace to push their own agenda.Purola will never be the same again.What happened has done irreparable damage to the social fabric of our town. The communal tension started over the arrest of two men including one Muslim for trying to abduct a minor Hindu girl. But people targeted the whole Muslim community forgetting the fact that one of the accused was a Hindu. It was totally wrong to target the minority community and ask them to leave the town for no fault of theirs. medium101590023How quickly things have changed. Earlier we would share evening tea with each other without asking who is from which faith.We happily participated in the social events together and helped each other in the ups and downs of life. But during the communal tension, when some of us confronted those asking the Hindu landlords to get their shops vacated from the Muslims for no fault of theirs, we were termed anti-Hindus. It was very saddening to face that just because we stood against what was wrong. The administration is also to be blamed. Why did it allow provocative slogans to be raised during the rally on May 29? It also allowed some of the right-wing leaders who were notorious for their hate speeches to speak. These people came from outside and provoked the locals against the Muslim community which was unwarranted. No action was taken against them by the administration. It imposed Section 144 and disallowed the planned mahapanchayat on June 15 but the damage was already done. We only hope that it is not repeated again in this peaceful hill town.