Half of the road now belongs to the Sheikhs, considered upper caste, and the other half to the Ansaris, considered lower in the caste order among Muslims.

Caste runs deep in Indian society and religion is no bar. In Bihar's Muzaffarpur, a Muslim mohalla has a road that has been split into two. People living in the area have divided the road that divides them by building a wall. Half of the road now belongs to the Sheikhs, considered upper caste, and the other half to the Ansaris, considered lower in the caste order among Muslims. The problem is the narrow road has a wall in the middle and is useless for cars or other four-wheelers.

Damodarpuri Tola in Panapur Haveli panchayat in Muzaffarpur's Kanti is a Muslim-dominated village. Sheikhs among them have had their domination questioned by Ansaris.

Recently, on November 18, a wedding in an Ansari household led to a fight between the two communities within the community. The Sheikhs did not like the Sheikh-level pomp and show on the Ansari side. A quarrel turned into a free for all.

The ensuing mediation round returned a verdict that ended in construction of a wall dividing the road and prohibiting entry into each other's turf. Speaking to our reporter, Naseeruddin Ansari accused the Sheikhs of mistreating them. He is happy with the wall because, well, 'we don't want to do anything with them'.

Sheikhs claim no such history of animosity between the two communities. They believe a minor tiff has been blown out of proportion. Mohammed Salim told our reporter that the casteist scuffle has led to the wall that separates them and the mosque on the Ansari side.

"We cannot go to offer namaz to that side. It's an irony that people who follow one religion and one book have erected a wall that divides them into two. What can be worse than this?" Salim said.

Both the sides had filed cases with the police after that wedding fight. District Magistrate Mohammed Sohail did not comment on the issue.

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