Priyadarshini Sen
NEW DELHI— For more than three decades, Mohammed Mehmood, a Muslim, had been hired by Hindu holy men to light their tents during celebrations of Kumbh Mela, a festival that every 12 years draws hundreds of thousands of devotees to the city of Prayagraj in northern India for what’s billed as the world’s largest single gathering of humanity.
An electrician from the town of Muzaffarnagar, Mehmood traveled in festival years 500 miles to Prayagraj to drape the tents of the ascetics belonging to the Juna sect of holy men, the largest ascetic group in Hinduism. His work done, Mehmood would stand by the tents of the saffron-robed, matted-haired sadhus, who, his son recalled recently, gave him “respect.”
“The sadhus allowed my father to sit by their padded mattresses as they blessed devotees and gave him space to perform namaaz,” said Mashkoor Ahmed, referring to Muslim prayers.
Despite his father’s death five years ago, Mashkoor Ahmed, who is also an electrician, had expected that the Juna sadhus would continue to hire him and his nephew, who have carried on the business. But with the festival approaching in mid-January, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the governing body of 13 Hindu monastic orders, has announced its decision not to allow “non-Sanatani people” — those who are not part of orthodox Hinduism — from entering or putting up stalls at the festival.
The decision comes after videos depicting people — said to be Muslim — polluting the sacred food of Hindus by mixing in urine and spit. “Our age-old religious practices are being corrupted by outside elements,” said Ravinder Puri, the chairman of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad. “Hindus have finally woken up, and we want to make sure our monastics are not disrespected.”
Puri said the Hindu monks will hold a meeting in Prayagraj in late January to discuss “rising attacks on Hindu temples and ashrams across India.” He believes the event will spark more conversations on how to safeguard their centuries-old practices.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.