Muharram passed off peacefully in the tense north-west Delhi neighbourhood of Bawana on Tuesday, but that was not because of the effectiveness of the security plan. It was because the area's Muslims agreed, for the sake of peace, to alter the route of the taziya procession which they have traditionally organised on the occassion.
Even before Bawana's Hindu residents on Sunday held a mahapanchayat to demand that the annual Muharram procession be curtailed, the area's Muslims had decided to confine the observances to their JJ Colony neighbourhood.
Tazia processions are a prominent feature of Muharram, when Shia Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad.
“We knew about the efforts by a section of the political class to create a Trilokpuri-like situation in Bawana on the question of the tazia procession,” said Mohammad Islam, a resident of JJ Colony, referring to last fortnight's riots in a volatile East Delhi neighbourhood. “We, therefore, submitted on October 24 itself to the local administration and police our decision not to take tazia processions out of our colony in order to avoid any confrontation.”
For almost a week before the mahapanchayat, handbills calling for Hindu unity were circulating in Bawana. One of the handbills declared: “Jab jab Hindu batataa hai, tab tab Hindu ghatataa hai" ‒ whenever Hindus get divided, their number goes down.
BJP leader and sitting MLA Ghuggan Singh reportedly told the mahapanchayat, “They [Muslims] can do whatever they want in their houses but they have no right to disturb others. I congratulate the youth from the area for taking up this cause [to stop Muharram procession in Bawana market] and support you.”
Said Sulaiman, a senior member of the locality, "What bewilders me is why, despite our decision to change the procession route well in advance, a mahapanchayat of Hindus was organised, provocative handbills were distributed and speeches made to create tension in Bawana.”
Congress leader and Bawana’s former MLA Surender Kumar confirmed that the area's Muslims had changed the route voluntarily. “When the Muslims got to know that attempts were being made to create communal tension, they themselves decided to change the route of tazia processions," he said. "Since Muslims discovered their design and refused to fall in the trap, the communalists tried to vitiate the atmosphere by organising a mahapanchayat, in which communal handbills were distributed and provocative speeches were made.”
On Tuesday, the BJP MLA Singh told Scroll.in that the mahapanchayat had not opposed the tazia per se."It was against the display of arms and fireworks during the procession," he said. "That creates communal tension.”
But many are sceptical of this explanation. With Delhi state elections on the horizon, the situation in Bawana seems remarkably similar to the strategy of communal polarisation the BJP attempted in western UP before this year's Lok Sabha elections.
Even before Bawana's Hindu residents on Sunday held a mahapanchayat to demand that the annual Muharram procession be curtailed, the area's Muslims had decided to confine the observances to their JJ Colony neighbourhood.
Tazia processions are a prominent feature of Muharram, when Shia Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad.
“We knew about the efforts by a section of the political class to create a Trilokpuri-like situation in Bawana on the question of the tazia procession,” said Mohammad Islam, a resident of JJ Colony, referring to last fortnight's riots in a volatile East Delhi neighbourhood. “We, therefore, submitted on October 24 itself to the local administration and police our decision not to take tazia processions out of our colony in order to avoid any confrontation.”
For almost a week before the mahapanchayat, handbills calling for Hindu unity were circulating in Bawana. One of the handbills declared: “Jab jab Hindu batataa hai, tab tab Hindu ghatataa hai" ‒ whenever Hindus get divided, their number goes down.
BJP leader and sitting MLA Ghuggan Singh reportedly told the mahapanchayat, “They [Muslims] can do whatever they want in their houses but they have no right to disturb others. I congratulate the youth from the area for taking up this cause [to stop Muharram procession in Bawana market] and support you.”
Said Sulaiman, a senior member of the locality, "What bewilders me is why, despite our decision to change the procession route well in advance, a mahapanchayat of Hindus was organised, provocative handbills were distributed and speeches made to create tension in Bawana.”
Congress leader and Bawana’s former MLA Surender Kumar confirmed that the area's Muslims had changed the route voluntarily. “When the Muslims got to know that attempts were being made to create communal tension, they themselves decided to change the route of tazia processions," he said. "Since Muslims discovered their design and refused to fall in the trap, the communalists tried to vitiate the atmosphere by organising a mahapanchayat, in which communal handbills were distributed and provocative speeches were made.”
On Tuesday, the BJP MLA Singh told Scroll.in that the mahapanchayat had not opposed the tazia per se."It was against the display of arms and fireworks during the procession," he said. "That creates communal tension.”
But many are sceptical of this explanation. With Delhi state elections on the horizon, the situation in Bawana seems remarkably similar to the strategy of communal polarisation the BJP attempted in western UP before this year's Lok Sabha elections.
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