At a time when Uttar Pradesh is fast turning into a battlefield for the politics of hate with political parties like BJP appearing to be hell-bent on stoking communal tension between Hindus and Muslims, a Hindu family from Azamgarh has emerged as a ray of hope.
Yadav and his son have been spending two hours every night to wake up Muslims for sehri (last food consumed in Ramadan fast begins) and fajr (morning) namaaz(prayers.)
Not many people would know, unless you happen to be one of the residents of Mubarakpur village in Azamgarh of eastern Uttar Pradesh, that Yadav’s family has been discharging this ‘duty’ of their own volition since 1975.
“I think I get inner peace through this exercise. I was very small when I first saw my father doing this. I couldn’t understand why he was doing this. After my dad, my elder brother carried on with this tradition for sometime. Later on I took the responsibility. I work in Delhi, but return to my village for every Ramadan,” Yadav was quoted by NDTV.
Yadav’s neighbour, Shafeeq, says that he was only four when this tradition started.
He says, “You see, this is indeed a praiseworthy work. They (Yadav and his son) walk across entire village. It takes them one-and-a-half hour to do so. They do a second round just to ensure no family has missed out on their sehri. What can be more pious than this?”
Yadav and his son indeed give hope to believe in India’s famous tradition of unity in diversity particularly when it comes to Hindu-Muslim unity.
This story of Azamgarh assumed more significance in light of brazen attempts by the BJP to whip up communal tension through false propaganda on Kairana’s so-called exodus of Hindu families.
Jantakareporter.com salutes the efforts of Yadav and his son Abhishek. Mubarakpur has been famous for banarasi sari up until now. But Yadav’s noble efforts will no doubt make the village a flag-bearer of India’s religious pluralism.