Living amidst 100% Muslim population is Dr. Kush Kumar Singh. Dr. Singh is a vegetarian and a very religious person. Is it not an interesting combine? In an age when people refuse to rent out houses to someone from a different religious belief than their own this creates curiosity. In our society many baseless rumors do rounds among Hindus and Muslims which affect the relations among a larger part of the population. In such circumstances Dr. Singh’s decision to reside amidst Muslims gives rise to many questions and answers them as well. Dr. Singh stays in Gaffar Manzil with Faisal Khan in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar area. Dr. Singh met Faisal Khan in Apollo Hospital. He was on his duty and Faisal Khan was on his social duty. Faisal has redefined social work. It was not a surprising thing that a non-Muslim has a negative image of Muslims in general. Dr. Singh also had such a mentality. Then he chatted with Faisal Khan and got to know about his organization Khudai Khidmatgar. These conversations continued for a long time. Dr. Singh spoke on many failings of the Muslim community openly with Faisal Khan. Dr. Singh used to think that Muslims are fundamentalists in matters of religion and they do not listen to any other point of view. He thought the community never opens up to other communities. But as he spent more time conversing with Faisal Khan his original thoughts started to get altered. But this change of attitude was only limited to Faisal Khan, he was yet to have a favourable view of the community. Faisal Khan too was more interested to speak about social issues than religious ones. Dr. Singh then thought that if he were to probe his thoughts and notions he needed to live amongst the community. Dr. Singh decided to live with Faisal Khan in the Khudai Khidmatgar office itself which doubles up as Faisal’s home. Given the present conditions, to decide to live in a locality having dense Muslim population was nothing short of a revolution. He took that chance however. He then started living with Faisal Khan. This was quite challenging for him but still he considered it like a spiritual mission and went to Jamia Nagar for this social experiment. May be many had then questioned Dr. Singh on his decision, yet it did not deter him from making an effort in understanding religion, dedication, love and sacrifice. As on today he already has lived for about three years here. All kinds of preconceived notions that he had have cleared in this period. His peaceful and dedicated presence also helped Muslims to dispense some of their doubts. A lot of Muslim friends who came to Faisal Khan would see and meet Dr. Singh, this helped in the community realizing its own shortfalls and removing their doubts about non-Muslims. Dr. Singh is an educated man who lived his life in such an exemplary way that he became an ideal for many. We are speaking of this precious friendship between a Hindu and a Muslim because it would freshen up the stale air of communalism that is suffocating us these days and it will have an impact on our collective conscience as well. We spread evils fast but don’t make efforts to spread the good word. Dr. Singh himself says that people belonging to the majority should live amongst the minorities to understand their problems, fears and concerns and to accept them as their own. Then only a beautiful India is possible. He also advises the minorities to engage themselves with the rest of the population and avoid walking the path alone. The minority should also learn to judge a person by his deeds rather than his/her religion. He goes on to add that more minorities should get educated and become open minded so that a beautiful India can be envisioned and realised.
Dr. Kush Singh works in the Metropolis Lab in Mohan Estate. His Lab had a tradition of distributing sweets on Diwali. Realizing that 18-20 staff members out of 60-65 were Muslims he got sweets distributed on Eid too this year. For his Muslim colleagues as well as his administration this was a welcome surprise. The Lab administration has now taken the responsibility upon itself to distribute sweets on Eid every year in addition to Diwali.
Dr. Singh is part of the national core team of Khudai Khidmatgar now. He is involved in day-to-day activities of Khudai Khidmatgar. He is also been made a trustee the Khudai Khidmatgar Trust. He believes other organisations like Khudai Khidmatgar should go among people and conduct dialogues and meetings for cultural exchanges between communities without any delay so that misunderstandings between the communities can be removed. He thinks extremism is rapidly spreading among educated youth. He says, ‘I am a doctor and I know that when we are among our own community how vicious and vile we get.’ Earlier when his friends used to say things against other communities he used to be perplexed as to what extent people can go to hate each other. He used to answer his friend that even if we agree that people in our country are bad it’s us only who can take them towards goodness, it’s our duty. He says, ‘Religion now a days is in the hands of opportunistic people who use it to serve their own agendas. Religion is meant to make a person a better soul and to elevate humanity to higher pedestal.’ He appreciates the fact that Khudai Khidmatgar instead of rejecting religion has presented the human face of religion. He adds that Khudai Khidmatgar highlights messages of harmony on both Prophet Mohammed’s birthday as well as Ram Navmi and this why it is winning hearts and making a secular space among communities. He thinks both Gandhi and Frontier Gandhi also used this strategy for peace and brotherhood during their times. He says, ‘The time I spent with Khudai Khidmatgar was a practical experiment which has removed many misconceptions that I had earlier. We all should live together in harmony and give time to understand each other with love and sacrifice. Then only a stronger, beautiful and development oriented India would emerge which was dream of by our forefathers. May our children play and rejoice in this beautiful and smiling India for which we are putting in our efforts.’ He narrates that whenever he mentions to his office colleagues that he lives in Jamia Nagar they stare at him for a while in disbelief and this surprise sometimes leads to meaningful conversations. Dr. Singh is a mirror to the society, a ray of hope, light of love.
By Sandeep Pandey and Tahmina Lashkar
Contact: A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016, Ph: 0522 2347365
e-mail: ashaashram@yahoo.com
(Note: Sandeep Pandey is Vice-President, Socialist Party (India) and Tahmina Lashkar is with Khudai Khidmatgar.)
