Sane Voices

It was then that the Hindus and Muslims of the area came together to form a ‘Hindu-Muslim Ekta Manch’,which went door to door urging residents not to get swayed by emotions and deter from any untoward incidents.

The manch members,led by president Mahadeo Ambedkar — a Shiv Sena shakha pramukh — and vice-president Jamal Khan,organised small public gatherings and a peace rally to build confidence in the public.

Group coordinator Salim Sheikh says,“We got in touch with senior police officials and social workers of the area and decided to organise a peace ‘Aman’ rally. And,a massive rally — attended by senior policemen,politicians and most importantly,schoolchildren and youth of the area — went around the Bainganwadi area,passing the message of maintaining peace in the area”.

Ambekar says,“Over the years,Govandi has grown from being a communally-sensitive area.

We work together to live a better life and one such judgment would not bring back to life the scars of the past. The rally was just one of the means adopted by us to re-instate our thoughts of unity among our neighbours.”

Though the verdict might have been deferred for a week by the Supreme Court,the residents know that things could take an ugly turn.

They are not leaving any stone unturned — local cable channels are putting up banners and manch members plan to continue their door-to-door campaigning till the matter is settled. Salim says,“We have also tied up with the local police station for maintaining law and order,for acting as police assistants in case there is a riot-like situation.”