As Muslims across the world are observing the Muharram festival today( July 17), all Hindus are not out of the box. In Dumri of Chouparan block of Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand, Muharram is observed by Hindus. 

No joke this. A group of Hindus observed it there on Wednesday. 

While the security forces were on their toes to maintain law and order across India including the state of Jharkhand,the Hindus of Dumri know that Muharram marks the death anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussain in the battle of Karbala. 

To mourn the event, like Muslims, Hindus took out processions from various Akharas in Dumri. 

Also, these Hindus, following the tradition of Muslims, took out Tazia,a replica of the mausoleum of Imam Hussain. 

They had made it in a form and size. In fact, the word tazia is derived from the Arabic word aza. It means commemorating the dead.

This replica of the mausoleum can be brought home on any day between the eve of the first day of Muharram and the ninth day. 

It it is buried on the tenth day of Ashura, when Imam Hussain was martyred. Therefore, Taziyat means paying honour, said Dinkar Sahu, a resident of Dumri. 

 Investigations revealed that though Dumri does not have any Muslim resident, its Hindu residents have been observing Muharram and taking out mourning procession, carrying Tazia made by them since 1950, according to a report by Prashant Sharma,published by TV channel News 11 Bharat.com on July 17.

In Dumri, like elsewhere, adequate security personnel were deployed in districts such as Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Palamu, Bokaro, Giridih, Lohardaga and Hazaribagh to maintain law and order on the occasion of Muharram. 

In this context, traffic movement of private and passenger vehicles were suspended from 10 AM on July 17 until the end of the procession in Dumri and other parts of Jharkhand including Ranchi.

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