Diwali celebrated at Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Haji Ali: Communal Harmony Project-41

On the left is the photograph of Diwali celebration at Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi.

This is just one of the umpteen such photos that show how Dargahs-Khanqahs have been celebrating Hindu and Muslim festivals together.

Another photo below shows how the entire Dargah has been lit up. The photo is courtesy @suficulturalorg

There are photographs of Haji Ali, the famous Sufi Shrine in Mumbai, lighting up on the occasion of Diwali, too.

This photo is also attached here (on the right).

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That's how we have been living and celebrating together, for ages.

When hundreds of millions live together, there is shared culture, joining each other in festivals. A few people will always be negative or start 'whataboutery'.

Even in the darkest times, never lose hope. There are numerous good people around us. Also, many fall to propaganda.

While it is important to fight injustice. Also keep sharing info about diverse aspects of the society & culture. Many don't believe or dislike or raise questions This is a huge, huge country. There are incidents of hate, and also there is love, harmony.

So just because we see lot of hate, amplified on social media, we do report news of harmony and certain traditions too. It is all goodwill, being humane. Of course, there's no onus on anybody to follow anyone's rituals.

We can simply be humane, celebrate with our friends, join them in their festivities, wish them, be good, spread the positive news. Acrimony, anger, bitterness, whataboutery--everyday, on each post, its so bad.

Muslims have been celebrating and joining the festivities with Hindu, Sikh, Christian and devotees of other faiths. And it's true for adherents of other faiths too. Whoever believes in harmony and humanity, would always share his neighbours' festivities.

And someone who is a bigot, will always see negativity even in the most positive things. Thanks to Delhi Karvan also for sharing photo. Credit to them as well as SufiCulturalOrg.

[Harmony exists all around us but is often ignored. Instead, stories of hate, discord and communalism get spread easily.

There are a million examples in our daily lives across India but they don't get promoted, hence, news of hate and discord gets heard more. Let's change it, now.

[This post has been updated on October 28, 2019]

This is a small attempt to change it through Communal Harmony Project]

For reading similar reports on this blog, Click the link HERE and also find out more about Communal Harmony Project]

#Communalharmony #Communalharmonyproject #India

Defiled by Dalit's touch, Muslims perform Hindu man's last rites

'Defiled' by a Dalit's touch, the relatives of Rameshwar refused to cremate him. For three days the body kept lying in wait for the funeral.

At last, Muslims in the town (Khandwa) that is yet to recover from the recent riot, came forward to perform the last rites of the elderly man. Rameshwar's kin said that they could not perform his last rites because Dalits ('sweepers') had touched it.
And if somebody touches a 'polluted' body, he also gets polluted, said the community leader. For getting cleansed the person then has to embark on a pilgrimage.

Also, the community fines such people who touch a 'defiled' body. Rameshwar, a Gond, had died in a road accident on September 29.

On Gandhi Jayanti, the body was still waiting for funeral. Despite administration trying hard to convince his family members to perform the funeral, nobody was willing to do it. Muslims decided to come forward. The local Muslim society leader Ahmad Patel offered to cremate as per the Sanatan traditions.

However, the deceased's family insisted that he should be buried. (There is custom in several Hindu communities to bury their dead). And the Muslims conducted the last rites. All this happened in Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh, which had witnessed a communal clash only recently and the normaly hadn't returned completely in the town.