Parth M.N.

Priti David

Editor

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Khawaja Moeenuddin still remembers
the crisp white kurta he donned on
the morning of that voting day – in India’s first-ever general election held
between 1951-52. He was then in is early twenties and could barely contain his
excitement, skipping across his small town to the
polling station, breathing in the celebratory air of a newly independent
democracy. 

Now 72 years later, Moeen
is in his tenth decade. On May 13, 2024, he once
again stepped out in the morning dressed in a crisp white kurta. But this time he
walked to the polling booth with the help of a cane.
The spring in his step was gone, as was the celebratory
atmosphere of voting day.  

“Tab desh banane ke liye vote kiya tha, aaj desh bachane ke liye vote
kar rahe hai [I voted to build the country back in the day,
now I am voting to save it],” he says speaking to
PARI at his home in Maharashtra’s Beed city.  

Born in the early thirties in Shirur Kasar tehsil of Beed district, Moeen worked as
a chowkidar (watchman) in the tehsil office. But in 1948, he was
forced to run away to the city of Beed – about
40 kilometres away – to escape the violence during the accession of the then princely state of
Hyderabad to the Indian union.  

A year after the bloody Partition
in 1947, three princely states – Hyderabad, Kashmir and Travancore – resisted
to accede to the union of India. The Nizam of Hyderabad sought an independent
state that would be neither a part of India nor Pakistan. The agrarian region
of Marathwada – in which Beed falls – was part of the
princely state of Hyderabad. 

Indian armed forces moved into
Hyderabad in September 1948 and forced the Nizam to
surrender in less than four days. However, <a href="https://archive.org/details/pandit-sundarlal-committee-report-on-the-massacres-in-hyderabad-1948/mode/2up">according</a> to the Sundarlal committee
report, a confidential government report that was made public decades
later, at least 27,000 to 40,000 Muslims lost their lives during and
after the invasion, forcing teenagers like Moeen to
run for their lives.

“The well in my village was filled with dead
bodies,” he recalls. “We escaped to Beed city. It has been my home ever since.”

He got married in Beed, brought up his children here and watched his grandchildren become adults. He worked as a tailor for 30 years and
even dabbled a bit in local politics. 

But for the first time since he
ran away from his original home in Shirur
Kasar more than seven decades ago, Moeen’s Muslim identity makes him
feel insecure.

According to the India Hate Lab, a
Washington DC-based organisation documenting hate speech and hate crimes, India
had 668 hate speech events in 2023 – that’s nearly two per day. Maharashtra,
known for its progressive thinkers like Mahatma Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar,
topped the chart with 118 of them.

“There was a bit of uncertainty
about Muslims’ place in India after the Partition,” he recalls. “But I didn’t
feel scared. I had faith in India as a nation. Today, however, after spending
all my life here, I wonder if I belong...”

He thinks it’s incredulous
how one leader at the top can make all the
difference. 

“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru genuinely
loved everyone, and everyone loved him back in equal measure,” Moeen says. “He
made us believe that Hindus and Muslims could live in harmony. He was a
sensitive man, and truly secular. As the prime minister, he gave us hope that India could become something special.”

In contrast, Moeen says, it feels
like a punch to the gut when Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of
India, refers to Muslims as “infiltrators” and looks to win elections by
dividing the electorate along communal lines. 

On April 22, 2024, Modi, who is also the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party’s star campaigner, while addressing a rally in Rajasthan, falsely claimed that
the Congress party plans to distribute people’s wealth among “infiltrators”. 

Moeen says, “it is
depressing. I remember a time when principles and integrity were the most
valued currency. Now, it is about power at any cost.”

About two or three kilometres from
Moeen’s one-room house lives Syed Fakhru Uz Zama. He may not have voted in the
first general election, but he did vote to re-elect Nehru, the first
Prime Minister in 1962. “I know the times are bad for the Congress but I would
not abandon the ideology of Nehru,” he says. “I remember Indira Gandhi had come
to Beed in the 1970s. I went to see her.”

He was impressed with the Bharat
Jodo Yatra, where Rahul Gandhi carried out a padyatra (march) from Kanyakumari
to Kashmir. In Maharashtra, he is thankful to Uddhav Thackeray – a sentiment he
never thought he would express. 

“The Shiv Sena has changed for the
better,” he says. “The way Uddhav Thackeray handled himself as the Chief
Minister during the pandemic was impressive. He went out of his way to ensure
Muslims weren’t targeted in Maharashtra like they were in other states.”

Zama, now 85, says that there was
always an undercurrent of communal division in India, but “the people opposing
that were equally vocal if not more.” 

In December 1992, Hindu radical
outfits led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad demolished the Babri mosque in Uttar
Pradesh’s Ayodhya city, claiming it was the birthplace of the mythological
figure Lord Ram. Communal clashes erupted across the country in the aftermath
of the incident, including Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, which was rocked
by bomb blasts and riots. 

Zama remembers the tensions in his
city of Beed during the 1992-93 unrest.

“My son carried out a peace rally through the
city just to ensure that our brotherhood remains intact. Both Hindus and
Muslims joined in large numbers. That solidarity seems to be missing now,” he
adds.

Zama was born in the same house he
currently lives in. His family has been one of the influential Muslim families
in Beed, one whom political leaders often call upon to seek blessings before the elections. His father and
grandfather, both teachers, were even jailed during the “police action”. When
his father died, he says, thousands of people across religious lines attended
the funeral, including local leaders.

“I had an excellent relationship
with Gopinath Munde,” Zama refers to one of the tallest leaders from Beed. “My
entire family voted for him in 2009 even though he belongs to the BJP. We knew
he wouldn&#39;t differentiate between Hindus and Muslims.”

He says his equation with Pankaja,
Munde’s daughter contesting on a BJP ticket from Beed, is also amiable,
however he holds that she
won’t stand up to Modi’s communal pitch. “He
made an incendiary remark during his rally in Beed as well,” Zama says.
“Pankaja lost thousands of votes after his visit. You can’t go far by telling
lies.”

Zama recalls a tale of his father
from before he was born. Not too far from his home sits a temple which came
under scrutiny in the 1930s. Some local Muslim leaders believed it was actually
a mosque and appealed to the Nizam of Hyderabad to convert the temple. Zama’s
father, Syed Mehbub Ali Shah, had the reputation of being truthful. 

“It came down to him to decide
whether it was a mosque or a temple,” Zama says. “My father testified he had
never seen evidence of it being a mosque. The matter was settled and the temple
was saved. Even though it disappointed a few, my father didn’t lie. We believe
in the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi: ‘Truth
always sets you free’.”

Gandhi’s reference comes up
regularly during the conversation with Moeen as well. “He instilled the idea of
unity and communal harmony among us,” he says, and goes on to recite an old
Hindi film song: Tu na Hindu banega, na
Musalmaan banega. Insaan ki Aulad hai, Insaan Banega. 

Moeen says that that was his motto when he
became a councillor in Beed in 1990. “I quit my job as a tailor in 1985 after
30 years because I was attracted to politics,” he chuckles. “But I didn’t last
as a politician for long. I couldn’t come to terms with the corruption and
money being used even in local elections. I have been a retired man for over 25
years now.”

Zama’s decision to retire also
stems from changing times and rampant corruption. He worked as a local
contractor in simpler times. “After the 1990s, it changed,” he recalls.
“Quality of work took a backseat and it was all about bribery. I thought I was
better off at home.”

In retirement, both Zama and Moeen
have become more religious. Zama wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and offers his morning
prayers. Moeen shuttles between his home and the mosque located right across
the street in search of peace. He is lucky that his mosque is in a narrow lane
in Beed. 

Over the past couple of years,
Hindu right-wing groups have celebrated the Ram Navami festival by playing
provocative, hateful and incendiary songs right in front of mosques. The story
in Beed is no different. Fortunately, the lane where Moeen’s mosque is located
is too small to carry out an aggressive procession. 

Zama in that sense is less
fortunate. He has to listen to the songs that call for violence against Muslims
as well as their dehumanisation. Every word makes him feel less of a human being. 

“I remember my grandchildren and their
Muslim friends used to serve water, juice and bananas to Hindu pilgrims during
Ram Navami and Ganesh festivals,” Zama says. “It was such a beautiful tradition
that came to an end after they started blaring provocative songs only to make
us feel bad.”

He has utmost respect for Lord Ram
but, he says, “Ram never taught anyone to hate others. The youngsters are
defaming their own god. That’s not what he represented.”

The age group of Hindus landing up
in front of mosques is dominated by young adults, and that worries Zama the
most. “My father wouldn’t eat on Eid until his Hindu friends came over,” he
says. “I did the same. I see that changing drastically.”

If we want to get back to the days
of communal harmony, Moeen says, we need someone with the conviction and
honesty of Gandhi to revive the message of unity all over again. 

Gandhi’s journey reminds him of a
couplet by Majrooh Sultanpuri: “Main akela hi chala tha
janib-e-manzil magar, log saath aate gaye aur karvaan banta gaya [I walked all alone towards
the goal; people kept joining in and the caravan grew].”

“Otherwise, the constitution will be changed and
the next generation will suffer,” he says.

‘I once voted to build the country...now I am voting to save it’

’تب دیش بنانے کے لیے ووٹ کیا تھا، آج دیش بچانے کے لیے ووٹ کر رہے ہیں‘

'నేను ఒకప్పుడు దేశ నిర్మాణం కోసం వోటేశాను... ఇప్పుడు దాన్ని రక్షించటం కోసం వోటేస్తున్నాను’

‘நாட்டை கட்டியெழுப்ப ஒரு காலத்தில் வாக்களித்தேன்… இப்போது அதை காக்க வாக்களிக்கிறேன்’

'ਪਹਿਲਾਂ-ਪਹਿਲ ਦੇਸ਼ ਨੂੰ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਤੇ ਹੁਣ ਦੇਸ਼ ਨੂੰ ਬਚਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਵੋਟ ਪਾ ਰਿਹਾਂ'

‘ମୁଁ ଥରେ ଦେଶ ଗଢ଼ିବା ପାଇଁ ଭୋଟ୍‌ ଦେଇଥିଲି… ଏବେ ମୁଁ ଏହାକୁ ବଞ୍ଚାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଭୋଟ୍‌ ଦେଉଛି’

‘ഒരിക്കൽ രാഷ്ട്രനിർമ്മാണത്തിന് ഞാൻ വോട്ട് ചെയ്തു...ഇപ്പോൾ വോട്ട് ചെയ്യുന്നത് അതിനെ രക്ഷിക്കാനാണ്’

ʼಹಿಂದೊಮ್ಮೆ ದೇಶವನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟುವ ಸಲುವಾಗಿ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದ್ದೆ… ಈ ಬಾರಿ ದೇಶವನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸುವ ಸಲುವಾಗಿ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಲಿದ್ದೇನೆʼ

‘इस बार देश बचाने के लिए वोट करूंगा’

‘એક જમાનામાં દેશ બનાવવા માટે વોટ આપ્યો હતો… હવે બચાવવા માટે આપું છું’

‘आज देश बचाय बर वोट देवत हवं’

‘पहिल बेर देस बनावे, आ अबकी बचावे खातिर भोट कइनी’

‘সেদিন দেশ গড়তে ভোট দিয়েছিলাম…আজ দিচ্ছি দেশ বাঁচাতে’

‘তেতিয়া ভোট দিছিলো দেশ নিৰ্মাণৰ হকে, এইবাৰ দিম দেশ ৰক্ষাৰ বাবে’

‘तेव्हा देश घडवण्यासाठी मत दिलं...आज वाचवण्यासाठी देतोय’

Beed

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‘I once voted to build the country...now I am voting to save it’

Khwaja Moeenuddin, 92, recalls voting in India’s first elections; he also voted in General Elections 2024. A resident of Beed, Maharashtra, he speaks on the past, present and future of our secular democracy

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