Indian Neighborhood Anxious About Association With Distant Crime
हिंदी में सुनें
Listen to this article in Hindi
Residents of a Hyderabad neighborhood worry about being unfairly blamed after a former member was implicated in a mass shooting in Australia, sparking concern and fear.
The repercussions of a distant tragedy are being felt in a quiet corner of India. Toli Chowki, a Muslim neighborhood in Hyderabad, finds itself in an unwelcome spotlight after one of its former residents was connected to a horrific crime abroad.
The man in question, Sajid Akram, who perished during an attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia last Sunday, spent his early years in this very locality. That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. nearly three decades have passed since he left India, with only infrequent returns. The recent mass shooting, which resulted in 15 fatalities and the subsequent arrest of Akram’s son, Naveed, as the suspected second assailant, has cast a long shadow over his relatives and the wider community of Toli Chowki.
For many residents, there is a palpable apprehension of being judged by association. This concern only exacerbates the existing anxieties of being a Muslim minority in an increasingly Hindu-centric India. In the wake of the event, some have voiced their innocence and disavowed any connection to the crime.
“This incident brought Toli Chowki fame through infamy,” lamented Mohammed Tajuddin, a neighbor of Sajid Akram’s brother. The specter of potential repercussions linked to a terrorist act has led many in the neighborhood to remain inside their homes this past week, avoiding unwanted attention.
Sajid Akram, at 50 years old, represents a segment of the approximately six million Indian Muslims who have sought opportunities overseas. Despite constituting only around 15 percent of India’s total population, Muslims account for nearly a third of the country’s emigrants, according to research conducted by the Pew Research Center.
Notably, a significant proportion of these emigrants originate from Hyderabad. Since the 1940s, individuals from this region have been migrating to various countries, initially to Pakistan, followed by Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States. More recently, many have sought employment in nations within the Persian Gulf. In Toli Chowki, it is commonplace for nearly every household to have at least one close relative working abroad.
