Hindus in this Bihar village cross religious lines to maintain centuries-old mosque

BY MANOJ PATHAK

Patna, Sep 15 (IANS) India is a country where few generalisations can be made on the basis of single incidents or events. Though the temple-mosque dispute in the town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh is what grabs frequent media headlines over "Hindu-Muslim conflict", not too far away in the village of Madhi, in Nalanda district of Bihar, there are Hindus who quietly manage a mosque and conduct its regular prayers even though the village is now virtually empty of Muslim residents who have all migrated to other parts of the country. The village also celebrates Hindu and Muslim festivals together in keeping with the country's traditional syncretic culture.

The Maadhi village situated 100 km from here and conaining just 1,200 household, once known for its large Shia Muslim population, has no Muslims now, but namaz is offered here five times a day by the Hindus. The Hindus also take care of the maintenance of the lone mosque. "We (Hindus) don't know the 'azaan', but a pen drive (with a recording of the azaan) is played every day to perform the ritual," said Hans Kumar, a village resident.

According to the villagers, Maadhi once had a sizeable Muslim population, but people from here gradually went away for better opportunities. .

"There was no one to take care of the mosque, so the Hindus had to come forward," said Gautam, who takes care of the mosque.

Gautam said no one knows when the mosque was constructed and by whom, but local residents say on the basis of folklore that the mosque is 200 to 250 years old.

There is also a tomb in front of the mosque where people offer prayers.

"The mosque is cleaned and prayers are offered every morning and evening. Whenever there is a problem, people come here for redressal," said Janki Pandit, the village priest.

After a wedding, even newly-wed couples come here first to take blessings, said a villager.

Villagers also take out Muharram procession every year in which almost all the residents of the village participate. Most of the Muslim residents in the village were Shias.

"Hindus themselves make 'tazia' during Muharram, and take out the procession", a ward member Laxmi Devi told IANS.

A villager Sanjay Paswan said, "the tazia procession during Muharram ends at the tomb of Hazrat Ismail Rahamatullah."

Villagers believe that even if there are no Muslims here, this mosque and the tomb protects people from bad things.

Villagers say that sometimes Durga Puja and Muharram are observed simultaneously. The expenses are shared among the villagers.

Block Development Officer Mohammad Firoze, under whose charge this village falls, says that it is a great example of communal harmony at a time when there is a lot of distrust between the two communities.

During festivals, special arrangements are made to maintain law and order and communal peace everywhere, but in this village there is no such problem as all the festivals are celebrated peacefully, says Firoze.