Day 75

Toll 214

Missing 123 (official, could be more)

Jailed 120 (not reconciled with above 123)

#FarmersProtest

Meo Rising

Yesterday, the Mewat region, south Haryana, rose in defiance to the Farm Laws. At a huge gathering in Nuh, the Muslims, Rajputs, and Jats came together in lakhs. This is significant because the easy and simplistic Hindu-Muslim binary through which Hindutva has tried to divide society for the last many years is now thoroughly challenged.

From Babur to the British, the Meo Muslims have a long history of resistance. In 1947, during the Partition of India, despite pressure by the princely states of Alwar and Bharatpur, who ruled in the region, the Meo community decided not to migrate to Pakistan. In practice, the Meo Muslims follow many Hindu customs such as not marrying within the same gotra, naming conventions, celebrating Diwali and Holi alongside two Eids (Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha).

In spite of such a rich syncretic culture, in 2017, under the present dispensation’s covert encouragement, Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer and Meo Muslim was lynched in Alwar by self-styled cow vigilantes. Pehlu Khan’s real name was Pappu Khan. His father’s name was Roop Singh, his grandfather was Bhoop Singh and his great grandfather’s was Chand Singh. This lynching had sent a worry across the 60 lakh strong Meo Muslim community who had always considered this land as home and had gloriously risen in the past many centuries to defend it.

The huge presence of women in yesterday’s gathering addressed by Chaduni and AIKSCC leaders is an assertion of the fact that divisive politics will fail, the masses have seen through the attempts to divide them. Farmers who till the land are also uniting this land.

After all, as Rahat Indori Sa’ab said, in translation:

All our blood is mixed in this earth

Hindustan does not belong to any one (community)