Being the nerve centre of Sufi culture in India and the home of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, after whom the area was named, congregations are a daily affair at Nizamuddin Basti. Every year, thousands gather here in the Islamic month of Rabi-ul Awwal to observe the urs (death anniversary) of the Auliya on the 17th and 18th of the month (to fall sometime in November this year, as per the Christian calendar). Besides the urs, hundreds pay obeisance at the dargah (resting place) of the Sufi saint every day at the locality which announces its existence by the blue dome, or the Neela Gumbad, on the intersection of Mathura Road and Zakir Hussain Marg.
Besides its Sufi character, Nizamuddin is also a backpacker’s and gourmand’s delight with several small lodges; eateries churning out qorma, nahari, paaya and biryani; and small shops that sell attar (perfumes), skull caps, kurtas, and Islamic books. It also has one of the first branches of the famous Old Delhi Mughlai restaurant, Karim’s. Residents of nearby colonies also visit the various meat shops in the area for their daily supply.
It is said that Auliya’s basti never stands still. However, over the last three days, hundreds of potential Covid-19 patients were evacuated from the Markaz, the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat, located just a few metres away from the Dargah. A congregation of indeterminate length held last month at the Markaz has now emerged one of the biggest spreaders of the Sars-Cov-2 virus.
Farid Nizami, the 48-year-old caretaker of 13th-century dargah, says he has been getting queries from across the world and from those who live in the surrounding area about the rise in Coronavirus cases caused by a religious gathering of members of the Tablighi Jamaat in mid-March.
“The moment the name of Nizamuddin occurs anywhere, people immediately associate it with the dargah. I am having to explain to everyone over and again that this incident has nothing to do with the Dargah,” he said, adding that the mausoleum had for the first time in its history last month shut its doors to the thousands of pilgrims who visit it every day — the moment the Prime Minister announced the March 22 “janta curfew” to control the spread of the virus.
“The members of the Jamaat have nothing to do with the Dargah, or with sufism. Their religious traditions are different and they hardly ever even visit the dargah,” Nizami added.
The spread of Covid-19 at the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters situated in the same Nizamuddin Basti, however, has caused worry among the residents of the 700-year-old settlement spread around the mausoleum of the Sufi saint.
Abdur Rahmaan (56), a local resident, said: “Ever since the government began alerting us on Coronavirus cases, we have been spreading awareness among the people of this basti about social distancing. However, for the past few days we have been facing a lot of discrimination when we go out to get grocery and other essential commodities from nearby markets. People feel that we are carrying the virus and refuse to supply us with any goods we need.”
The settlement around the dargah, where a thriving population of those claiming lineage to Hazrat Nizamuddin and his disciples dwells, has been at the centre of cultural activities in Delhi since the 13th century.
“Every dynasty that ruled Delhi since has built in this area, because of the proximity to the saint’s grave,” said Ratish Nanda, CEO of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which has been carrying out development efforts in the basti for at least a decade. A large number of royal tombs came up in the vicinity, including Humayun’s tomb, which is one among the three Unesco world heritage sites in Delhi. The presence of a 16th century heritage park, Sundar Nursery, which was redeveloped three years ago, is yet another attraction for tourists.
“Like every other urban village in Delhi, the Nizamuddin basti has grown organically, and has several segregated communities who came to the area at different points in time.” added Nanda.
There are about 400 families in the area who trace their descent to the saint. Then there was a wave of refugees from West Punjab who came here in 1947. Nizamuddin still remains one of the first ports of call for a Muslim immigrant in Delhi. During the 1982 Asian Games, a large population of labourers came to the area and continued to stay here long after the games were over.
Nizamuddin is also a cultural hub. “Many things that are deeply connected to the idea of India found their origins in Nizamuddin,” said heritage enthusiast Sohail Hashmi. “While the Chisti saint Nizamuddin Auliya decided to stay here, it is through his closest disciple, the poet, musician and scholar, Amir Khusrao, that Sufi thought is transmitted into the language of Delhi. It is he who begins the musical tradition of Qawaali, drawing in elements from folk music in Delhi and Punjab. The beginning of the langar tradition also took place in the hospice of Nizamuddin,” adds Hashmi.
The Qawali tradition at the Nizamuddin Dargah continues to draw about 1,500 visitors every Thursday night. The mausoleum is visited by thousands of pilgrims from across the world on the birth and death anniversaries of Nizamuddin and Khusrao as well.
Being a space of cultural significance, literary figures such as the 17th century poet Abdul Rahil Khan-i-Khana and the 19th century poet Mirza Ghalib also came to be buried there.
“Thousands of people come here every year to celebrate Ghalib in seminar, mushairas, and ghazal programs,” said Aqil Ahmad, secretary of the Ghalib academy, a cultural and educational institution established in 1969 in West Nizamuddin, consisting of a research centre, art gallery, and a calligraphy training centre.
In was in the 1920s that the Tablighi Jamaat was given land by the Nizamuddin Dargah to build their headquarters.
Speaking about how the present controversy about the Jamaat gathering might be affecting the health and reputation of people at Nizamuddin, Nanda said “presently our only concern is the well being of the 20,000 residents of the basti and to identify anyone who will need hospitalisation”.
“Thereafter much needs to be done to reiterate that the mammoth Tablighi Jamaat headquarters that now overshadows the basti, has in fact little association with pilgrims to the dargah or with the local residents,” he added.
