Saffron Corridor: ‘Islamic Terror’ And ‘Muslim Terrorists’

Not far from New Delhi, an army of Hindu extremists is taking shape on the ashes of Muzaffarnagar. To take on ‘Islamic terror’ and ‘Muslim terrorists’. Ankush Vats and Amit Bhardwaj report from Ground Zero.

- Ankush Vats and Amit Bhardwaj

Musalmanon ka pravesh varjit hai (Muslims not allowed)” reads a banner at the gate of the famous Devi temple at Dasna village in Ghaziabad district, 2 km down a dusty road from nh-24 and not far from the national capital. Inside, a teenager is thrashing a 10-year-old boy as the priest looks on, a smirk on his face. As the bully moves aside to get hold of a bamboo stick, the child runs and is chased until he is out of the gate.

The 10-year-old is Muslim. The priest says he had come to collect water from the temple pond. “That water is sacred,” he explains while the correspondents are being taken to meet Swami Narsinghanand Maraharaj, the mahant (head priest). “It has the power to cure diseases. I don’t understand why they [Muslims] come here when their entry is banned. They just don’t get it.”

The boy bows down to touch Swamiji’s feet, who pats his back and says triumphantly, “Aa mere sher (Come, my brave boy)”. Pramod, the ‘devotee’, cannot hear or speak and has been a regular at the temple since his childhood and is currently entrusted with keeping a watch over “intruders”. ‘Swamiji’ is no less than god to Pramod, who is also a national-level judo player and recently won a gold medal in Goa. Swamiji bears all his expenses, and had got him admitted in a school for specially abled children.