“The social fabric and friendships of our village are our backbone. That’s why Gandhiji had come to our village when Partition was happening,” says 20-year old Jaid Khan from Gandhi gram Ghasera, a village in Nuh district of Haryana.

Jaid along with 13 other men from his village take turns to guard the only temple in the village from any anti-social elements. The local residents, including Muslims, are guarding the temple since communal violence broke out in the neighbouring areas of Nuh and Badshahpur in Haryana.

Ghasera, which is about 30 km south of Gurugram’s Badshahpur, is a Muslim-doninated village with around 150 Hindu families. It has a temple and a mosque standing opposite each other separated by a small pond.

In the last one week, since the communal tension broke out in the region, Muslims of the village along with their Hindu neighbours are guarding the only temple in the village.

“We all protect the temple so that no one from outside comes and harms the temple to fuel violence here. Outsiders come and fuel violence. Otherwise we have a very good relationship among ourselves,” says 42-year old Mohhamad Irfan who is a taxi driver by profession.

However, the residents say that this is not the first time that they have come together to protect each other and the temple.

Pandit Ram Swarup, whose four generations have lived in the village, says that the temple has been standing ever since the village came into existence.

“We are a minority in this village but the environment of our village is very good. Even when there was tension in 1992, the villagers used to protect us and this temple and even today that is happening. We never felt that fear but now we are scared to send our kids out of our village. Along with me there is Shrawan Kumar, Maan Singh, Showkat, Saudan, who stay here near the temple through the night,” he said.

Even though the village is peaceful, the tension around Nuh area has caused anxiety among the residents. They have asked everyone, especially young men to not step outside the village till the tension subsides.

Young men like Jaid and his childhood friend, Hari Om, fear stepping outside the village. Both of them have studied in the same school and now go to the same college in Nuh. “I can do anything to protect my friend (Hari Om) but we are all scared to go out of the village at the moment because of what happened in Nuh. But we won’t let that happen in our village,” Jaid says.

(Edited by : Pradeep John)

First Published:Aug 4, 2023 7:12 PM IST