The Hindu : National : Communal amity during Muharram procession

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 21, 2005

National

National

Communal amity during Muharram procession

AHMEDABAD, FEB. 20. For the first time after the Gujarat riots, some 30 riot-affected families of Naroda village here took out a "Tazia" procession during Muharram today with the cooperation of Hindus living nearby.

"When riots broke out on February 28, 2002, 14 persons from 125 families living here were massacred," Imran Khan, an active member of "Aman Samudayam" which organised the Tazia, said.

"However, the minority community members living here are trying to put the past behind by taking out the procession with the assistance of their Hindu brethren," Mr. Khan, a resident of Naroda, said.

"Hindu families who surround our minority enclave have contributed in cash for setting up the Tazia this year," he said.

The Tazia was being taken out for the first time in such a big way after the riots in the area, which has over five lakh members of the majority community, he added.

"Though only 30-odd families reside here today, the rest of the families who shifted to other places within the city after the riots, have come to attend the Tazia procession," Maulana Ramzan Ali Sheikh, the maulvi of the mosque in Naroda, said.

Some residents of the locality feel that such cooperation from members of the majority community will help them tide over the unhappy memories of the past.

PTI

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