Bhalessa: Where communalism has lost its relevance
Aman committee, a joint body of Hindus and Muslims has worked towards bringing the two communities together in Bhalessa. Because of this reason, the backward area is becoming an abode of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.
GONE ARE the days when areas like Bhalessa witnessed a sharp polarisation on communal lines. Historically, relations between Hindus and Muslims here have been fairly cordial as many of Gandoh's muslims are descendants of converts from various local Hindu castes, although a sizeable number are also ethnic Kashmiris. In most cases, it is virtually impossible to distinguish local Hindus from Muslims from their facial features, although sometimes it is possible through their dress, as in the case of Muslims associated with the Deobandi-inspired Tablighi Jamaat (a relatively new phenomenon), with their distinct way of wearing their shalwars above their ankles, their long, bushy beards and their shaven moustaches.
In terms of economic conditions too, Hindus and Muslims appear, on the whole, roughly equally poor, Gandoh being one of the most 'backward' parts of Doda. Most people here earn their livelihood through animal husbandry and tilling tiny patches of terraced land up in the mountains and in the narrow valleys between them.
The good news is that due to the efforts of the area's Aman committee, a joint summit of Hindus and Muslims, both the communities continue to live together in the same villages peacefully, barring occasional communal incident. During the turmoil in the valley, both Hindus and Muslims were killed mercilessly by the insurgents as well suffered as the hands of security forces. Despite the petty movements of the chauvinists and fundamentalist leaders to perpetuate self interests, the people here seem to have discarded narrow and sectarian views. The area had witnessed a lot of bloodshed when terrorism was at its height – people were killed on a large scale, women were raped, innocent children and women were killed, local youth and the elderly were harassed. There are of course several forces at work that maintain the old age tradition of living together. One of such forces was Haji Sahib of Bhatyas, who has taught for over four decades in various government schools in Bhalessa and is now running the one of the area's few private schools.
In this relatively inaccessible and impoverished part of Jammu and Kashmir, the school is upto the tenth grade and is affiliated to the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education. Most of the roughly 1000 students come from poor families, and the fees is relatively low. Numerous poor children receive education free of cost. The school has a number of Hindu students, and almost a tenth of its teachers are Hindus, the rest being Muslims. In addition to the school, Haji Sahib has set up a madrassa, the Jamia Ganiatul Ulum, which has some fifty students training to become Ulema or Islamic clerics. Most of these children are from impoverished families, and in the madrassa they receive free education, boarding and lodging as well as the possibility of a job as a religious specialist once they graduate. To protest the deadly massacre of more than two dozen Hindus in Kulhand, a hamlet near Doda, Jammu city observed a complete shut-down sometimes back. On that very day, a Muslim student of Bhalessa in Jammu University had to appear for an important examination. He assumed that because of the strike the examination had been postponed. In the afternoon, he rang up a Hindu friend of his, who told him, to his utter shock, that the examination was actually on schedule and that he had just entered the examination hall. Unfortunately, no vehicles were plying in the streets that day and he had no way out to reach the university. However, his Hindu friend magnanimously rushed out of the examination hall and sped on his motorcycle all the way to his house and picked him. They arrived in the examination hall just in time to write their paper. The grandfather of the muslim counterpart revealed that he had sent an appeal to the Chief Minister to announce a reward to his grandson's Hindu friend for having served as a model of communal harmony.
In this relatively inaccessible and impoverished part of Jammu and Kashmir, the school is upto the tenth grade and is affiliated to the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education. Most of the roughly 1000 students come from poor families, and the fees is relatively low. Numerous poor children receive education free of cost. The school has a number of Hindu students, and almost a tenth of its teachers are Hindus, the rest being Muslims. In addition to the school, Haji Sahib has set up a madrassa, the Jamia Ganiatul Ulum, which has some fifty students training to become Ulema or Islamic clerics. Most of these children are from impoverished families, and in the madrassa they receive free education, boarding and lodging as well as the possibility of a job as a religious specialist once they graduate. To protest the deadly massacre of more than two dozen Hindus in Kulhand, a hamlet near Doda, Jammu city observed a complete shut-down sometimes back. On that very day, a Muslim student of Bhalessa in Jammu University had to appear for an important examination. He assumed that because of the strike the examination had been postponed. In the afternoon, he rang up a Hindu friend of his, who told him, to his utter shock, that the examination was actually on schedule and that he had just entered the examination hall. Unfortunately, no vehicles were plying in the streets that day and he had no way out to reach the university. However, his Hindu friend magnanimously rushed out of the examination hall and sped on his motorcycle all the way to his house and picked him. They arrived in the examination hall just in time to write their paper. The grandfather of the muslim counterpart revealed that he had sent an appeal to the Chief Minister to announce a reward to his grandson's Hindu friend for having served as a model of communal harmony.
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