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Urban India’s segregation continues along ethno-religious and class lines

Delhi’s Noor Masjid: Tales of a Martyred Mosque

12 March 2011

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The Economic and Political Weekly, March 12, 2011

by Laurent Gayer , Chakraverti Mahajan

The recent demolition of the Noor Masjid in Jangpura by the Delhi Development Authority was actually an attempt by the local residents welfare association at sanitising the area by excluding the plebeians in general and the Muslim poor in particular. It is also an example of the new patterns of segregation of India’s urban population on class and ethno-religious lines albeit by using the politically correct language of landownership rights. The affected Muslims, while reacting with moral outrage, also used the language of rights, and of tenure as the main plank of their counteroffensive. This suggests that the sense of alienation of Indian Muslims is not yet complete.

FULL TEXT BELOW:

Delhi’s Noor Masjid: Tales of a Martyred Mosque (PDF)
by Laurent Gayer , Chakraverti Mahajan
(The Economic and Political Weekly, March 12-18, 2011)