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Two old shops where meat was sold now see no customers, but a new shop named Shetkari gets better business; the new masjid with speakers came up as the old one was located far for regular visits; a few villagers have been accused of promoting the ostracisation of local Muslim businesses

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PIC: NIKHIL GHORPADE

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Nawab Malik

A little over two years ago, a Bollywoodraised a storm on social media (Twitter to be precise) with his protestations against the azaan (call to prayer) being relayed on loudspeakers by mosques. It took a while for that dust to settle. At Andhali, a remote village in Sangli, some 200 km from Pune, the same controversy is playing out again, only with serious social repercussions — the ostracising and blockading of the minority community and their businesses, respectively.The three shops that served all the meat the village consumed until a couple of months ago are swatting flies today. Similarly, the only bangle vendor of the village has almost gone out business. All these establishments run by members of the Muslim community in the village, are victims of an embargo imposed by members of the Hindu community.Such a confrontation is unprecedented, informed the elders of the Muslim community, who trace their moorings to the village back to 400 years. “All this while, selling meat and bangles was our community’s preserve in the village. Now, just to spite us, Hindus here have started a meat shop, while another lady from that community has started selling bangles from her home,” a villager pointed out, while the men surrounding him nodded gravely.Their angst is not so much about competition as it is over the diktat banning Hindus of the village from buying from the Muslim traders. As a meat shop owner revealed, his business is down to 20 per cent of what it used to be before the blockade was enforced. “Today most of my customers are from my own community. The few Hindus who still buy from me, do so by placing the order over the phone and having the product delivered. These people come to me only because they can purchase from me on credit, something the new vendor is not offering,” the butcher explained.The plight of the original bangle seller of the village is equally stark. She has not seen a customer in days and is now considering shutting shop for good. “What other option do we have? With a clear embargo against our business, most of our customers are too scared to even visit our establishments,” underscored the husband of the bangle vendor, as she sat by his side, grim-faced.The villagers revealed that this is the outcome of a new mosque being built in the heart of the village and the Hindus taking objection to the use of loudspeakers for azaan, splitting wide open the village on communal lines. The village has had a mosque on one of its fringes. “Not many could go all the way there to offer prayers. So we built this one in a central location. We also started azaan five times a day. This irked few members of the Hindu community and they demanded we shut it down, which we refused. It is our right to pray the way we want,” a prominent Muslim villager stated.As tensions escalated over this issue, the Hindu villagers said, they called for a meeting to resolve the issue. “Instead of turning up for the meeting and seeking a resolution, they chose to approach the cops,” alleged Baban Patil, a formerof the village. Stepping in, the cops appealed to the villagers to maintain peace and even issued prohibitory orders. This, many believe, was the tipping point.A motley group of Hindus decided to retaliate by hitting their Muslim brethren where it hurt — their businesses. It was decided to not buy anything from them. To enable this without impacting their own lifestyle, the new meat shop and bangle selling venture was set up. A ‘Shetkari’ meat shop was set up in the main market not too far from the Muslim shops. Similarly, bangles were made available from a Hindu household in the village.The people behind this decision are rather righteous about it. “All these years they never used loudspeakers for azaan. So when they started using them at the newbuilt near the chowk, we requested them to stop or lower the volume. With exams round the corner, they should have been more considerate. But some members from their side outright refused to heed our request. They even went to the police against us,” argued Umesh Mane, a villager. Seated next to him outside theoffice, Patil added, “It was then that we decided to open our own shops. Why should we do business with them if they do not respect us?” This done, word was sent around dissuading the Hindu community from transacting with Muslims businesses.Interestingly, amidst this confrontation, members of both communities insist that the problem is being orchestrated by a few from the other community. The Muslims say that only a handful of Hindus are instigating the strife and it is not as if the entire village has turned on them. Similarly the Hindus claim that only a few Muslims are being cussed about persisting with the azaan, while they continue to share cordial relationship with most of their fellow villagers from that community.While the cops, having intervened, are privy to the tension over the azaan, they seem to be in the dark about the retaliatory embargo against the Muslim businesses. “Pursuant to the azaan issue, I called for separate meetings with both communities. We have not sanctioned the speakers on the mosque, nor are they in line with Supreme Court guidelines. However, if we act against this transgression, the minority community will accuse us of bias. We also pointed out to the Hindus that they, too, violate rules when it comes to celebrating their festival and holding late night kirtans. We tried to resolve the issue amicably,” recounted Vikas Jadhav, assistant inspector, who is in charge of the Palus police station.Learning of the ostracisation, he said he would now take the help of the tehsildar, to convene a joint meeting and put an end to the issue. “Opening more meat or bangle shops are as such no crime. But issuing diktat preventing people from buying from Muslim shops is not acceptable and we can certainly step in and act,” he reasoned.When Mirror drew the attention of minority development minister, to issue, he said, “I will ask members of the minority affairs commission to look into the matter. They will visit and verify what is happening on the ground. We will act based on their recommendations.”