Several recent reports have shown that demography is changing rapidly along India’s border with Nepal. The number of mosques and madarsas is constantly increasing. From August 20 to 27, 2022, an OpIndia team visited several areas in Nepal bordering India to observe the ground situation. What follows here is the sixth episode of the series of reports documenting the facts noticed by the OpIndia team.
Shravasti district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh. Shravasti was the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala where Gautam Buddha spent most of his time after attaining enlightenment. It is near the Rapti river in the northeastern part of Uttar Pradesh India, close to the Nepal border. We learned during our visit to the area, that in Shravasti, it is very common to find mosques and madrasas next to Buddhist temples and places of faith. The majority of the settlements near Angulimal Cave are predominantly Muslim.
As we were exploring the area, we noticed a large mosque (dargah) named Meera Shah adjacent to the Angulimal cave. What is the relevance of a mazar right next to a Buddhist temple? We attempted to learn about the history of the area from people there, including the Khadim and Dargah’s custodian, in order to acquire answers to our questions.
Devotees from India, as well as Nepal, visit the Dargah every year on Basant Panchami
Mushtaq Ahmed, the mosque head, told OpIndia that every Jummerat, a wider set of devotees visit the Dargah. Salana Urs is also celebrated at the mosque every year on Basant Panchami or Saraswati Puja, the Hindu festival that is celebrated on the Panchami Tithi (fifth day) in the month of Magh (a Hindu calendar month corresponding to January/February in the Gregorian calendar).
According to Mushtaq Ahmed, hundreds of visitors converge at the dargah on this day not just from India but also from Nepal. The visitors belong to both the Hindu and Muslim communities, said Ahmed adding that the government deploys home guards, police and other personnel to regulate the throng.
Mushtaq also informed us that Hazrat Meera Shah’s dargah is linked to the Dargah of Hazrat Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. Alluding to Salar Ghazi as the supreme authority, Mushtaq stated that these mazars have been present since the time Bahraich’s Dargah Sharif existed.
According to Mushtaq Ahmed, the dargah was registered with the Waqf Board and is overseen by a committee. He named Jawwad and Naib Sadar Mushtaq Raza the two chieftains of the dargah. We noticed that the dargah was adorned with Islamic flags.
Dargah should receive facilities akin to Buddhist and Jain temples, demands Mushtaq Ahmed, the mosque caretaker
In response to the security and other public services made available to nearby Buddhist temples, the dargah’s patron Mushtaq remarked that the dargah is deprived of basic amenities. He claimed that anyone visiting the dargah has to sleep in the open because there are no facilities. Mushtaq observed that the Dargah committee handles everything.
Mushtaq Ahmed noted that the dargah has not received any government aid despite repeated requests. He added that he alerted the Waqf Board about the same, which, in turn, presented the demands before the state government. The government, he believes, should construct a concrete boundary for the dargah and provide all public facilities within it. While bemoaning the lack of amenities, Mushtaq referenced a Jain temple 200 metres away from the dargah, which he described as well provisioned with all government resources and facilities.
Taps installed by the Government for local villagers, placed inside the dargah
When we asked about the bulbs that illuminated the dargah, Mushtaq Ahmed said the government was yet to provide them with electricity. According to Mushtaq, the Dargah committee has put solar light panels in the mosque at their own expense.
Besides, we noticed four government taps and four government dustbins, that were meant to be used in the village, installed inside the Dargah campus. When we inquired, Mushtaq said that earlier he was the head representative of Hussainjot village and stated that the taps and dustbins were installed from supplies provided for the village. Additionally, a generator had also been installed at the dargah to run the submersible pump.
BSP MP promised to provide facilities to the dargah: Mushtaq
Ram Shiromani Verma, the local MP of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has shown his support for Ahmed, the dargah’s patron. According to Mushtaq, the BSP MP has assured all of them that he will fully assist in obtaining all government amenities for the dargah. Expressing his displeasure that the BSP MP didn’t adhere to his long-standing commitment, Mushtaq said that they would all go and remind him about his promise once again.
Women are not permitted in the dargah
Khadim Jawwad Ali of Mira Shah Dargah stated that as per the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) women are not allowed to enter the Dargah. When we questioned him if Allah will grant the wishes of such women who violate Shariat law by entering the Dargah, he replied in the affirmative. “Of course, it will be,” said Jawwad Ali.
Maulana wearing saffron gamcha
One thing we observed about this mazar was that the Hindu devotee whom Ahmed, the mazar’s patron, led us to talk to was clothed in saffron. He introduced himself as Harihar Baba and described himself as a follower of Meera Shah Dargah. At the same time, someone who looked like another Maulana had a saffron gamcha (scarf) wrapped around his neck.
Illaglly constructed Mazar demolished by authorities reappears
OpIndia learnt that in 2018, the Shravasti Police had written a letter alerting the Archaeological Department regarding the number of illegally built places of worship mushrooming rapidly in the area. However, what action the Department of Archeology took in response to the letter is not yet known, but it will be updated as soon as it becomes available.
We were also told that a Mazar, which was illegally built close to the road near this dargah, was removed by the district administration in the year 2020. However, the demolished tomb has since been reconstructed and people have started swarming the place.
A creeping Islamisation of Nepal and its border areas appears to be underway, with Islamists steadily establishing their foothold in distant villages, including those on the Indian border. In the first four parts of this series, OpIndia documented the demography change ongoing in Nepal, as well as the worrying surge in the number of mosques and madrasas in the Himalayan nation’s border villages. Additionally, we also spoke about the rising incidences of love jihad in Nepal, as well as its Delhi connection and smuggling and various other notorious activities that are threatening India’s border with Nepal.
The first report in this series can be read here in Hindi: कभी था हिंदू बहुल गाँव, अब स्वस्तिक चिह्न वाले घर पर 786 का निशान: भारत के उस पार भी डेमोग्राफी चेंज, नेपाल में घुसते ही मस्जिद, मदरसा और इस्लाम – OpIndia Ground Report
The same report can be read here in English: Demographic change hits other side of the border too, Mosques and Madarasas mushroom in former Hindu dominated areas in Nepal: Ground report
The second report in this series can be read here in Hindi: घरों पर चाँद-तारे वाले हरे झंडे, मस्जिद-मदरसे, कारोबार में भी दखल: मुस्लिम आबादी बढ़ने के साथ ही नेपाल में कपिलवस्तु के ‘कृष्णा नगर’ पर गाढ़ा हुआ इस्लामी रंग – OpIndia Ground Report
The same report can be read here in English: Islamic flags flying atop houses and mosques, madarsas influencing businesses: The creeping Islamisation of Nepal’s Krishnanagar
The third report in this series can be read here in Hindi: नेपाल में लव जिहाद: बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी और नेपाली लड़कियों से निकाह के खेल में ‘दिल्ली कनेक्शन’, तस्कर-गिरोह भारतीय सीमा पर खतरा – OpIndia Ground Report
The same report can be read here in English: Rising cases of love jihad in Nepal and its Delhi connection, smuggling plaguing India’s border with Nepal: Ground report
The fourth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: बौद्ध आस्था के केंद्र हों या तालाब… हर जगह मजार: श्रावस्ती में घरों की छत पर लहरा रहे इस्लामी झंडे, OpIndia Ground Report
The same report can be read here in English: Steady rise in mazars and madarsas adjoining Buddhist places of worship in UP’s Shravasti near Indo-Nepal border: Ground report
The fifth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: महाराणा प्रताप के साथ लड़ी थारू जनजाति बहुल गाँव में 3 मस्जिद, 1 मदरसा: भारत-नेपाल सीमा पर बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी का ये है ‘पैटर्न’ – OpIndia Ground Report
The same report can be read here in English: Rising number of mosques, madarsa along Indo-Nepal border: Ground report on Islamisation of village of Tharu tribe that fought along Maharana Pratap
The sixth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: बौद्ध-जैन मंदिरों के बीच दरगाह बनाई, जिस मजार को पुलिस ने किया ध्वस्त… वो फिर चकमकाई: नेपाल सीमा पर बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी – OpIndia Ground Report
