{"id":255224,"date":"2015-10-12T12:37:56","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T07:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/?p=255224"},"modified":"2015-10-12T12:37:56","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T07:07:56","slug":"the-sacred-and-the-profane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/the-sacred-and-the-profane\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sacred And The Profane"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Riding
Riding the tide<\/strong> Despite taunts, Asiya devoutly lights the lamp at the snake temple every day<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThough the early morning rain has stopped hours ago, the huge Pala trees with intertwining crowns spread like an umbrella over the whole compound have not stopped dripping water. Pallom, a small village in Perumbavur, Ernakulam district, is a sleepy backwater where nature seems to suggest tranquillity is a state of being.
\nAasiya stands for a while near the naagathara (snake temple) holding both hands up in the air, chanting Arabic sermons. \u201cThe naagathara has a long history dating back 200 years,\u201d she says proudly.
\nFor the past 17 years, this elderly Muslim couple \u2014 Asiya and Abu Bakar \u2014 has been taking care of a Hindu snake temple they inherited with their property. Five years ago, the Mahallu Commitee \u2014 the governing body of the local mosque which they belong\u2014 subjected them to a social boycott, saying the family had offended the beliefs of residents by practising a non-Muslim ritual.
\nThe couple tells Tehelka that the mere act of upholding the beliefs of the Hindus who hold this grove sacred has been anathema to the narrow-minded keepers of the community\u2019s conscience.
\nFor Asiya and Abu Bakar, the sudden change in the attitude of the people living in close proximity has been difficult to understand. In old age, when the help of neighbours would be a source of support and solace, they are living a life of isolation.
\n\u201cWe came to know about the existence of this naagathara when we inherited the property some 50 years ago,\u201d says Asiya, 65, mother of five. \u201cMesmerised by the divine aura of the temple, we started worshipping it. We believe that all religions and beliefs should be given due respect. I have not found any difference in other religions: All teach us to love and respect each other.\u201d
\nShe says they feel highly indebted to the blessings of the serpent god in their lives. They say it was the deity who helped them miraculously escape a stampede at Mecca where they had gone for Haj in 2004.
\nThe couple has not only maintained the naagathara well, but has ensured that the temple remains fully functional. They had also sought the help of a local Hindu priest for this. It is upon his advice, that Asiya lights a traditional lamp every day at the temple and says prayers in Arabic. The couple have also been conducting an annual ritual for the last 17 years in the honour of the snake deity.
\nThough the couple tried to keep this practice secret, their daughter-inlaw made it public a few years ago. \u201cIn many Muslim households here, there is a practice of lighting a traditional lamp and worshipping serpent gods,\u201d she reveals. \u201cBut many keep it a hush affair, so the public is unaware of it. Our rituals were also performed furtively but she (daughter-in-law) made it public and warned us to stop the practice,\u201d says Asiya. The daughter-in-law subsequently abandoned the family a few years ago and got a divorce from her husband over the issue.
\nAfter the issue was made public four years ago, the members of the Mahallu Commitee pulled down the naagathara. The couple, who were then living on a meagre income from a small teashop they run, took pains to rebuild it. The committee destroyed it again, attacked the couple and even threatened to kill them. They also vandalised their property and culled the hens and ducks Aasiya was rearing.
\nSoon after that, the attacks escalated. People started knocking at their door and making shrieking sounds at night. The couple approached the local police but met with reluctance to lodge a complaint. Later, they approached the Kerala High Court seeking police protection to rebuild the temple.
\nThe temple they rebuilt with the help of police two years ago, is still intact. But the couple has been banned from using the local mosque for prayers and continue to face resistance from locals.
\n\u201cAfter the temple was rebuilt two years ago, the local mosque people got together to work against us,\u201d says 75-yearold Abu Bakar. \u201cThe neighbours have lodged many complaints against us that we are not letting them live a peaceful life. They even started taunting us over the way we worship the serpent god.\u201d
\n
\nAbu Bakar stopped going to the mosque after he was harassed by the local cleric. \u201cOnce when I went for a friday prayer at the mosque, he ridiculed me. Pointing towards me he said that a beard or a skullcap does not make a real Musalman. He even ridiculed my wife about wearing a religious dress.\u201d
\nThe Mahallu Committee then urged the villagers not to keep any contact with the family. They even stopped taking membership fee from the couple and stopped giving the share of meat that is given to Muslim families during the month of Ramadan.
\nAbu, one of the few neighbours who keeps in touch with the couple, says of the local people, \u201cMost of them are Muslims and they fear that they also will be socially boycotted if they talk to them or help them.\u201d
\nHowever, the social ostracism has not deterred the couple: They are not ready to give up their beliefs. \u201cWe may be poor, but we have the right to live an honest life,\u201d says Abu Bakar. \u201cGods of all sects teach us to treat all as equal and with reverence. We have not committed any crime or hurt anyone\u2019s sentiments. What we practice is what we believe.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, the Mahallu Committee denies all allegations. They tell Tehelka that no family faces a boycott. \u201cAbu Bakar stopped coming to the mosque, we had no role in this,\u201d says Sirajudeen, president of the Mahallu Committee. \u201cWe got many complaints regarding the family\u2019s engagement in anti-Muslim practices. We advised Bakar that it is not a right practice. When he ignored us, we stopped talking about it. We have not ostracised or isolated any family.\u201d
\nThe couple has also sought the help of Ernakulam district\u2019s collector and the Waqf Board against the ostracisation.
\n\u201cNo ban or boycott can be enforced on the grounds of an individual\u2019s belief,\u201d says BM Jamal, ceo, Kerala State Waqf Board. The board has already issued directives to the mosque committee to present itself for detailed explanations of its actions on 12 October.
\nJamal admits that the state is witnessing an increase in the number of social boycott cases in the last few years. \u201cLack of evidence is obstructing action against such people or mosques,\u201d he says.
\nAasiya and Abu Bakar, meanwhile, have not received any justice even after a month of registering their complaint. Instead, they have been inundated with complaints from the local people accusing them of destroying the peace of the village. Based on this, the couple has been directed to present themselves before the authorities every day. This has further made life burdensome for the old couple. \u201cThey have been using such torture tactics hoping that we will sell the property and leave,\u201d says Abu Bakar.
\nOn questioning, the district administration told Tehelka that it is acting on the complaint filed by the couple.
\nDespite the scale of torture and tantrums, the two are resilient about pursuing their beliefs. \u201cAfter us, we are not sure whether our children will continue this practice,\u2019\u2019 they say. \u201cBut we want to pay our respects to the gods till the day we die.\u201d
\nadarsh.onnatt@tehelka.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An elderly Muslim couple in a Kerala village faces social boycott for protecting a grove sacred to the Hindus on their property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":255232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56],"tags":[6501,6358,6502,6503,6399,6504,6505],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}