Islamic flags and symbols atop every house and shop: Ground report from UP-Nepal border

Several recent ground reports by OpIndia have shown that demography is changing rapidly along India’s border with Nepal. The number of mosques and madarsas is rapidly increasing in the area. 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 fifteenth report of the series of reports documenting the facts noticed by the OpIndia team.

In prior reports, we discussed what locals think about the mosques, Islamic shrines and places of worship spread along the highways leading from Balrampur to Barhni and Jarwa along the open international border running between India and Nepal. We also reported how the authorities have sprung into action after the exclusive reportage by OpIndia along the UP-Nepal border.

In this report, we will share our experiences as we travelled the Tulsipur-Harraiya-Sirsia road, which also runs along Nepal’s border.

Throughout this path, the majestic Himalayan range could be viewed on the right-hand side. All the localities along this road are recognised Nepalese border villages. This route also falls under the limits of the Balrampur district in Uttar Pradesh.

Our journey started near the Tulsipur Devipatan Temple, the epicentre of the Hindu faith on the Nepal-India border. As we continued, we began to notice various Islamic sites of worship along the way, as we had on previous days.

The first thing we noticed was the ‘Garib Nawaz School’, decked with Islamic motifs

We had just passed the Tulsipur market on Harraiya Road when we noticed ‘Garib Nawaz Primary School.’ This school is located in Bairagi Purwa village in Tulsipur. On the main board of the school, the name of the school was inscribed in Persian. The identical thing was written in English and Hindi on its left and right hand sides, respectively. The top of the school gate had a moon-star emblem.

We had hardly travelled about 2 kilometres from Garib Nawaz School when we noticed a large green madarsa next to the road. This madarsa, situated in a village panchayat named Odajhar, was two stories tall. Locals informed us that hundreds of children from the neighbourhood have been studying in this madarsa. A board placed outside it read, ‘Madarsa Darul Uloom’ in Arabic. As we looked around we noticed a green Islamic flag placed on the road next to this madarsa.

We had just walked about 200 metres when we noticed another shrine built near to the road. This shrine was also green in colour, and a boundary wall was built around it. Though the structure resembled that of an Idgah, a mosque-style minaret also towered behind it.

The Idgah spotted near the aforementioned Madarsa in Odajhar Bazar

Mazars and Mosques in deserted locations

We had just passed through Odajhar when we noticed a new tomb on the right side of the road, completely abandoned. We noticed a lot of green flags around the tomb. The mazar was built in a field and some locals we met, claimed that the village was roughly a half-kilometre away from this place. The Himalayan range was clearly visible from behind this mazar.

We had just moved a half-kilometre away from this tomb when we noticed a mosque near the Nepal border. This mosque was built about a kilometre away from the main road and was white in colour. The border’s forest zones began after this settlement.

By now, it was getting dark but we kept moving ahead. We were in Karonda village and had only travelled about 100 metres from the previous mosque when we noticed another mosque in the same border region. This mosque was also spotted near the mountains on the Nepalese border, roughly 1 kilometre from the main road. Its tower was visible from a considerable distance.

Mazar right next to the main road

We must have driven no more than 2 minutes after leaving Karaunda hamlet, where we saw at least two mosques and one mazar, we came across another mazar built right next to the highway road. This mazar was built right on the sidewalk, on a completely deserted part of the road, with a vast field behind it. It was made of concrete and surrounded by multiple Islamic flags. The tomb was surrounded by green sheets that took up a lot of space.

Mazar on the sidewalk on the highway road

Religious Islamic flags flying on roofs

We travelled from Karonda village to Piprahwa market, where religious flags and distinctive Islamic symbols could be found on the rooftops of numerous houses. These flags could be found not just atop houses but also on top of shops and other commercial establishments.

Islamic flags could be found not just atop houses, shops and commercial establishments

We spotted a mosque with two minarets at Piprahwa Bazaar. This mosque was around 100 metres from the main road.

Masjid situated in heart of Piprahwa market

Another mosque found in a desolate location

We had hardly walked one kilometre from Piprahwa Bazar when we observed another two-story mosque in another village near the Nepal border. According to the locals, there were fields surrounding this mosque and the area was always peaceful. The mountains of Nepal’s border can also be seen from here. People reported that leopards and other wild animals frequented this region.

Majid in an isolated area in Nepal border

Madarsa and masjid placed adjacent to each other

We were driving towards Harraiya on a route near the Nepali border, Prem Nagar Market was visible from this road. We noticed a mosque with a minaret in the heart of the bazaar. Locals told us that there is a madrasa immediately beyond this mosque, where hundreds of students study.

More Islamic worship places are found within villages than on roads

When we finished exploring Prem Nagar Bazaar, it was already dark. We had headed 15 kilometres further from the Tulsipur market when locals warned us not to go any further in the middle of the night because it was a forest area.

They confirmed that a chain of Islamic shrines stretched from Nepal’s border to Sirsia and beyond and that numerous more mosques and madarsas had sprung in regions away from the main road.

At this point, we returned to Balrampur city, heeding their warning not to travel any further at night.

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 madarsas in the Himalayan nation’s border villages. Additionally, we also spoke about the rising incidents of love jihad in Nepal, as well as its Delhi connection and smuggling, and various other notorious activities that are going on along 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

The same report can be read here in English: Dargah and mazar built around Buddhist and Jain temple premises, illegal mazar once demolished surfaces again: UP’s Shravasti near Nepal border