Harmony

Stories of people from different faiths and communities in India standing by each other, sourced from established news reports.

Harmony

West Bengal · 15 Jan 2022

Pandaveswar residents of all faiths build Ram Janaki temple together

Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians near Asansol pooled money and material for the village temple.

Residents of Pandaveswar village near Asansol in West Bengal opened a Ram Janaki temple in April 2019, built with help from Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. Villagers raised funds through a crowd-sourced drive, giving cash, bricks, marble, cement and tiles. Muslim residents gave 10,000 bricks, a community leader said. Villagers said no government funds were used. More than 5,000 people attended the opening, where Muslim residents handed out sweets to devotees.

Read full story at ThePrint

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Delhi · 15 Jan 2022

Sania Ahmad Hasan’s post on Navratri bhajans in Jamia Nagar goes viral

A Delhi journalist described how a small temple’s Navratri bhajans sit easily in a mostly Muslim neighbourhood.

Sania Ahmad Hasan, a journalist who lives in Jamia Nagar in Delhi, wrote a Facebook post in October 2018 about her neighbourhood that was widely shared. Jamia Nagar is mostly Muslim, with mosques every few kilometres, and a few Hindu families live there too. A small temple serves those families, and during Navratri it plays bhajans all day. Her point was simple: nobody in the area sees this as a problem.

Read full story at India Today

Harmony

Delhi · 15 Jan 2022

Muslim neighbours turn back mob to protect Hindus in Mustafabad

Residents of a Muslim-majority Delhi locality stood up for Hindu neighbours during the February 2020 violence.

Muslim residents of Mustafabad in northeast Delhi confronted a mob and sent it back when it came to attack Hindu families in their neighbourhood in February 2020. The New Indian Express reported the incident in a video report released on 27 February 2020, as violence spread across parts of northeast Delhi. The Hindu households live in an area where Muslims are the majority. Their neighbours chose to stand between them and the crowd.

Read full story at The New Indian Express

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Delhi · 15 Jan 2022

Muslim family says Hindu neighbours hid them for two days in Delhi

A Muslim man told NDTV how Hindu neighbours sheltered his family at home during the February 2020 violence.

A Muslim man in Delhi told NDTV in February 2020 that his Hindu neighbours hid him and his family inside their own house for two days while riots broke out in parts of northeast Delhi. In the video report, released on 27 February 2020, he describes how the neighbours kept the family safe from rioters until the danger had passed. The family said the neighbours saved their lives.

Read full story at NDTV

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Delhi · 15 Jan 2022

Hindus guard a mosque and Muslims protect a temple in Noor-e-Ilahi

Residents of a northeast Delhi locality protected each other's places of worship during the February 2020 violence.

Hindu and Muslim residents of Noor-e-Ilahi in northeast Delhi protected each other's places of worship during the violence of February 2020, ABP News reported in a ground report released on 29 February 2020. In the area, Muslims gathered around a temple to keep it safe, while Hindus stood guard at a mosque against attackers. The video, tagged with the name Mandir Masjid Marg, shows how residents of the locality worked together to keep both sites from being damaged.

Read full story at ABP News

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Punjab · 15 Jan 2022

Malerkotla Muslim families donate grain for Golden Temple langar

Households in Muslim-majority villages near Malerkotla sent grain to Amritsar after an appeal during the 2020 lockdown.

Muslim families from villages in and around Malerkotla in Punjab donated grain to the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 2020 to keep its langar running during the COVID-19 lockdown. The effort followed the temple's appeal for grain for its free kitchen. Dr Nasir Akhtar of the Sikh-Muslim Affinity Foundation helped organise it. Each household gave about five kg, and around 35 tonnes was collected over 35 days. Volunteers then delivered the grain to Amritsar.

Read full story at The Tribune

Harmony

Delhi · 15 Jan 2022

Muslim residents protect Hindu neighbours and temple in Mustafabad

A Mojo Story ground report from Mustafabad shows residents of a Muslim-majority area keeping Hindu families and a temple safe.

Muslim residents of Mustafabad in northeast Delhi protected their Hindu neighbours and a local temple during the violence in the area in 2020, according to a ground report by Mojo Story. Mustafabad is a Muslim-majority locality, and Hindu families also live there alongside their Muslim neighbours. The video shows residents describing how they kept watch over the Hindu households and the temple during those days.

Read full story at Mojo Story

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Karnataka · 15 Jan 2022

Temple, school and madrasa shelter flood victims in Kodagu

During the 2018 Kodagu floods, a temple, a school and a madrasa housed about 1,000 people regardless of faith.

During the August 2018 floods and landslides in Karnataka's Kodagu district, the Srirama Temple, St Anthony's school and a local madrasa were turned into relief camps. Together they sheltered about 1,000 people from hamlets such as Mukkodlu, Makkandur and Hattihole. Coordinators said food and supplies came from private donations. Local youth trekked risky routes to bring stranded families to safety, and residents gave foodgrains, clothes and blankets.

Read full story at The Better India

Harmony

Uttar Pradesh · 15 Jan 2022

Bareilly Muslims raise Rs 50,000 to free 15 Hindu prisoners

Led by Haji Yasin Qureshi, the group paid fines and bail that poor families of the inmates could not afford.

In 2015, a group of Muslim men in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, raised about Rs 50,000 to secure the release of 15 Hindu prisoners. The men, led by Haji Yasin Qureshi, paid the fines and bail amounts the inmates' families could not afford. Most were held for minor offences such as ticketless travel. For one of them, Nand Kishore, the only thing standing between him and release was a Rs 1,000 fine.

Read full story at The Better India

Harmony

Madhya Pradesh · 15 Jan 2022

Morena Muslims give land and Rs 50,000 for Ram temple

Muslim residents of a Morena village helped their Hindu neighbours build the Sri Ram Janki Temple with land and money.

Muslim residents of a village in Morena district, Madhya Pradesh, gave land to their Hindu neighbours to build the Sri Ram Janki Temple, Zee News reported in February 2016. The community also collected about Rs 50,000 and handed it over to help meet construction costs. The report, carried with a video, did not name the village or the families who contributed. The channel called it an example of communal harmony.

Read full story at Zee News

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Punjab · 15 Jan 2022

Brahmins give land and Sikhs fund mosque in Barnala village

In Moom village, Brahmin families donated land and Sikh residents paid for a mosque for local Muslims.

Brahmin families in Moom village of Punjab's Barnala district donated about two marlas of land so local Muslims could build a mosque, The Better India reported in February 2018. Sikh residents gave funds and helped with construction. Muslims had been praying in two rooms at the shrine of Baba Momin Shah. Pandit Purshotam Lal, an Ayurveda practitioner, rallied Brahmin support. Najim Khan and his brother Jasvir Khan supervised the work.

Read full story at The Better India

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Gujarat · 15 Jan 2022

Muslim Sumra potters in Ahmedabad supply pots to Hindu traders

More than 100 Sumra potters from Mehsana work at Sarkhej Roza each year, selling mainly to Hindu wholesale dealers.

Every September, more than 100 Muslim Sumra potters from Mehsana district villages such as Kheralu move to Sarkhej Roza in Ahmedabad, as reported in October 2017. They stay about eight months, renting shanties on trust without deposits. Clay comes from lake beds at Sanand. Their main buyers are Hindu wholesale dealers, and pots also go to Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Girish Prajapati, a Hindu potter and wholesaler from Vejalpur, said he always buys from a Sumra.

Read full story at YourStory

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