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A Tale of Harevali Village in India's National Capital and Forced Conversion of Its Muslims to Hindu Religion

19 May 2020 02:05 PM, IST


A Tale of Harevali Village in India's National Capital and Forced Conversion of Its Muslims to Hindu Religion
(From left to right): Dilshad, Shyamlal and Rajvir in Harevali village of Delhi

But what happened in this village on April 5, is very horrifying. Round the clock Islamophobic propaganda through television channels, digital and social media, in connivance with government agencies, particularly Central and State Health Departments, accusing the Muslims of being spreaders of the deadly coronavirus impacted the minds of the local Hindus. While they brutally tortured Dilshad on April 5, elders of the village planned a different strategy against the Muslims. They thought out a plan to forcibly convert them to Hinduism to get the village rid of its Muslims and any trace of Islam and also coronavirus for which Muslims were being held responsible.

 

Syed Khalique Ahmed | India Tomorrow

 

HAREVALI VILLAGE (DELHI), MAY 19—This non-descript village with a population of a little over 3000, populated mostly by Brahmins and Jats and 60 members of the 12 Muslim families, besides 25 Dalit families, is located just 40 kilometres from Indian Parliament in Lutyens Delhi, the seat of power in India.  The village falls in Bawana assembly constituency of Delhi, bordering Sonepat district of the neighbouring Haryana.

 

The village surrounded with green fields from all sides was totally unknown and unsung till recently. It came into limelight after a 22-year-old Dilshad was badly beaten up by a few local youths on April 5 after Dilshad returned from a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, during lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus infection. Dilshad was brutally beaten up for he was suspected to be a carrier of coronavirus as he had returned from a congregation of Tablighi Jamaat which was blamed by the government as well as the pro-Hindutva media for spreading coronavirus infection in the country. After 24x7 non-stop propaganda, Muslims became easy target of mob assault by anti-social elements all over the country. Muslim vendors and traders were subjected to trade boycott, harming them economically in this season when businesses have almost closed and unemployment reached its peak in the country.

 

But what has gone unnoticed by the so-called mainstream media in all the din of lockdown, is the attempt by the Hindu fanatics of this village and its temple priest to convert the miniscule Muslim population to Hinduism by using force. People would hardly believe that such a thing can happen in India’s national capital that boasts of being the world’s biggest democracy and having a “secular” Constitution that grants each of its citizens freedom to practice and preach his/her faith. It is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed in Article 19 of India’s Constitution. In 1947, when India attained Independence, and the country was partitioned between Pakistan and India, Muslim residents of the village adopted Hindu sounding names to protect their life and property because of intense anti-Muslim sentiments prevailing at that time. However, nothing happened after that and everyone lived peacefully in the village till recently. With the passage of time, anti-Muslim sentiments also died down. While the elder Muslims retained their Hindu names, they began giving Muslim names to their children for the last over two decades. Muslims in this village are illiterate, landless and poor, earning their livelihood by working on the agricultural fields of the local Hindus and some factories in Bawana area, about six kilometres from the village. Their total cut-off from the Muslim population left them unaware about Islam and its teachings. They admit that they don’t know anything about Islam, excepting its “Kalima”(La Ilaha Illallaha, Mohammadur Rasoolullah, meaning that there is no God but only One God and Mohammed is The Messenger of Allah). But they proudly claim themselves to be Muslims and the only Islamic custom they have strongly retained to this day is that they bury their dead and don’t cremate them. This identifies them as a separate community in the village and differentiates them from the rest of the village population in terms of faith. In all other terms, they are almost similar to the local Hindu population.

 

Impact of  Round The Clock Islamophobic Propaganda By National Media: Harevali Hindus Forcibly Convert Local Muslims to Hindu Religion

 

But what happened in this village on April 5, is very horrifying. Round the clock Islamophobic propaganda through television channels, digital and social media, in connivance with government agencies, particularly Central and State Health Departments, accusing the Muslims of being spreaders of the deadly coronavirus impacted the minds of the local Hindus. While they brutally tortured Dilshad on April 5, elders of the village planned a different strategy against the Muslims. They thought out a plan to forcibly convert them to Hinduism to get the village rid of its Muslims any trace of Islam and also coronavirus for which Muslims were being held responsible.

 

After Dilshad was tortured by the Jats and Brahmin youths on April 5 , the senior male members of all the 12 Muslim families were called by the village Hindu leaders to the village square in the afernoon. All of them were first abused and beaten up with sticks. An old Muslim woman was also beaten up and pushed to the ground when she objected.

 

Muslims Brought to Village Square, Beaten Up

Narrating the harrowing tale, Rajvir, the seniormost Muslim, told India Tomorrow, “On April 5, elder male members of each Muslim family were asked to come to the village square where all the villagers had already gathered. They first abused us, then beat us with sticks. They also beat an old Muslim woman and pushed her to the ground. Our only crime was that we are Muslims”.

 

All the Muslims were then sent back to their homes.

  

Muslims Brought To The Village Temple For Conversion

 

After a few minutes, Hindu youths were sent to the Muslim houses who forcibly brought Muslim elders in batches of twos and threes to the village temple. “Hindu youths came to our houses and caught hold of us by our shoulders and took us to the village temple in groups of twos and threes. At the entrance of the temple, Muslims were asked to bow, touch the threshold with their hands and then rub the hands on our forehead and the chest like Hindus do”, recounted  Rajvir.

 

“The next thing they did was that they put drops of “gau mutra”(cow urine) on our palms and asked us to sip it in front of the entire village. They told us that we have all become Hindus now. You are now converted from Islam to Hinduism”, terrified Rajvir told this scribe in his house. The Hindus call this process as “shuddhi-karan” (purification) to convert a non-Hindu to Hindu religion.

 

“The villagers also told us that you can live here only as Hindus otherwise you will have to quit the village”, the elderly Muslim said, adding, “frequent abuse and ill-treatment after the incident has made our life very hard in the village. It has become difficult for us to move out in the village”.

 

The temple priest and other Hindus, Rajvir said, repeated the same thing with all the Muslims by bringing them to the temple. “They also ordered me to ensure that Dilshad does not go to Tablighi Jamaat programme in future”, said Rajvir.

 

Asking Muslims to cremate their dead in future and not to bury them, Rajvir said that they asked Muslims to convert their graveyard of more five bighas into a “gaushala”(cowshed).

 

Rajvir said that while a criminal case had been filed in connection with the assault on the life of Dilshad, a case regarding attempt to forcible conversion of the Muslims was yet to be filed. “We are consulting some Muslim social workers and our advocate in this connection”, said Rajvir.

 

His advocate Anwar Siddiqui, who is also secretary of Delhi unit of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) said, “We have collected videos and other evidences of the Muslims being taken to the temple for filing a case against the accused persons. But we have to look into many other things also before taking a police and legal action as Muslims are very poor and dependent on the Hindu villagers for many things. We are planning a number of things on this issue but divulging them at this juncture will not be proper”.

 

How Did Dilshad Come Into Contact With Tablighi Jamaat That Brought Harevali Into Limelight?

 

The 22-year-old Dilshad, who has studied upto Std X only, said he came in contact with Tablighi Jamaat on February 22 this year when he attended a Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Karol Bagh Eidgah (New Delhi) on February 22 this year with his cousin Noor Mohammed. Noor, 27- year-old married youth came in contact with Tablighi Jamaat volunteers while working as a sanitary worker at the residence of one of the Tablighi volunteers at Bawana a few years ago. “When the Tablighi Jamaat programme was being held at Karol Bagh, he asked me to accompany him. I went with him. After attending the programme, Noor and I were sent to Bhopal with a group of Tablighis on February 22. Meanwhile, lockdown was announced. We could not return. As the lockdown prolonged, we got worried. We then contacted a truck driver who was taking fruit and vegetables to Delhi’s Azad Market. We boarded the truck and reached Azad Market on April 5. As we were watching on social media platforms that Tablighis are being blamed for coronavirus and are also being attacked everywhere, Noor decided not to go to the village due to the fear of beating tortured by the villagers. He went to a village in UP with his Tablighi friends. But I wanted to return to my village. So, I managed to reach Harevali village in the morning of April 5 itself. But I was caught by some Jat and Brahmin youths near the village temple, located at the entrance of the village. They simply asked me if I was coming back from Tablighi event. They began hitting me with lathis as soon as I said, “yes”. They snatched my bag in which I had kept a copy of the Holy Quran, a copy of Fazail-e-Aamal, both in Hindi language, my purse and a pair of clothes. They poured petrol over it and set the bag afire”, narrated Dilshad.

 

Dilshad Beaten Up Brutally by Youths Drawn From All Hindu Communities

 

Recounting the chilling incident of his life, Dilshad said, “Two-three elders sitting at the bench near the temple asked me to run away to save my life. I did so. But my legs got entangled in the grasses in the field because I was very hungry and thirsty after travelling for several days without food and water from Bhopal. The youths shouted to burn me alive. They burnt my beard with a lighter. They intermittently continued to hit me with lathis and asking me to accept that I had gone to take training for spreading coronavirus in the village. I told them I had gone to Bhopal to learn “Deen” (Islam) and not for spreading coronavirus. To ensure that I am no further tortured, I told them that I have made a mistake but I will not go to Tablighi Jamaat programme again. But they did not listen to me and continued to hit me from every side. I requested them to forgive me but they did not pay heed to my requests”.

 

“As they were shouting to burn me alive, they sent one of them to the village to procure kerosene to sprinkle over me and then torch me. Meanwhile, some one (Not a Muslim) from the village, having mercy on me, called up police about village youths torturing me. Two policemen in plainclothes arrived in a vehicle. Instead of rescuing me from the clutches of my tormentors, they encouraged them to hit me more. While all this was happening, a Police Control Room(PCR) van with police personnel reached there and they challenged the youths. The accused persons ran away. As the youth sent for kerosene had not returned by then, I was saved. PCR people called up an ambulance and shifted me to the B R Ambedkar Hospital near Narela which refused to admit me as police personnel told hospital authorities that I was corona patient and that was why I was beaten up by village youths. I was then shifted to LNJP Hospital at Delhi Gate where I was admitted to a corona ward. I told doctors and nurses that I am not a corona patient. I requested to do an X-ray of my hands and legs. But they gave treatment without X-ray. Meanwhile, I kept myself busy in “zikr” & “Tasbeeh” (remembrance and glorification of Allah Ta’ala) during night and day. In my “duas”, I invoked Allah’s mercy. I did not give up “namaz” and prayed on the hospital bed itself.  I performed “namaz”, both in sitting and standing positions. Doctors on duty wanted to know for what I had gone to Bhopal”, recounted Dilshad.

 

“Alhamdulillha, I recovered very fast. I was discharged from the hospital on April 19 and shifted to Sultanpuri quarantine centre. As I did not develop symptoms of Covid-19, I was released from the quarantine centre on May 10 and sent to my home on the same day under police protection”, narrated Dilshad.

 

“It was on reaching home I came to know of the incident of villagers from “36 biradari” (all the Hindu castes) having tried to forcibly convert his father Shyamlal and others like Rajvir, Roshanlal, Suresh, Balbir, Shyamo Devi and Aslam to Hindu religion. It was a bigger shock to me than physical atrocities on me”, Dishad goes on.

 

But Dilshad says that the question of abandoning Islam does not arise at all. Rajvir and other Muslims also support the stand of Dilshad.   “We will prefer to die that to give up Islam”, they declare.

 

In the same vein, Dilshad says, “At the same time, we don’t want any kind of clash or tension with other villagers. We want to live in peace with everybody as we were living here earlier”.

 

“I also pray Allah Ta’ala to show the Right Path to my tormentors and to all those who committed excesses on my family and others and tried to convert them to Hinduism”, Dilshad says philosophically.

 

As for the criminal case registered against those who tortured him, he says, “Only my advocate Anwar Siddiqui can reply”.

 

ALSO READ: After Mob Attacks and Trade Boycott, Muslims Being Forced to Convert to Hinduism in Delhi and Haryana Villages

 




Keywords : Harevali Village ,   Delhi ,   Conversion of Muslims to Hindu religion  




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Ishan


21 July 2020 11:01 AM
Brilliant writing, Check out my blog as well I have some more points to say on religion Link: https://www.thenewthought.in/post/new-thought-on-impact-of-religion-on-india






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