Over 150 madarsas and 200 mosques come up within a 15-kilometre radius around Indo-Nepal border: Ground report

20 September, 2022

Several recent ground reports by OpIndia have shown that demography is changing rapidly along India’s border with Nepal. The number of mosques and madarsas is rapidly increasing in the area. From August 20 to 27, 2022, an OpIndia team visited several areas in Nepal bordering India to observe the ground situation. What follows here is the seventeenth report of the series of reports documenting the facts noticed by the OpIndia team.

In prior reports, we discussed what locals think about the mosques, Islamic shrines and places of worship spread along the highways leading from Balrampur to Barhni and Jarwa along the open international border running between India and Nepal. We also reported how the authorities have sprung into action after the exclusive reportage by OpIndia along the UP-Nepal border.

In this report, we attempted to determine whether the Muslim population is expanding solely in areas along the border or whether it is also affecting villages further away from the border. We went to the Sadullahnagar police station region of the Balrampur district in pursuit of this. If you follow the shortest route, this market will be roughly 60 kilometres from the Nepal border. We noticed that the majority of the shops in this market are owned by Muslims. However, we sought to identify the demography of settlements in this area.

Several Muslim-dominated settlements within the jurisdiction of the same police station

The OpIndia team acquired information regarding the Hindu-Muslim population in the villages surrounding the Sadullahnagar police station. According to our research, a village in Nevada under the Sadullahnagar police station has a Muslim population of 95%. Also, the Muslim population in two villages, Deoria Adam and Edaha, ranged from 80% to 90%. The Muslim population was estimated to be between 70% and 80% in villages such as Lalpur Bhaluhia, Bholia Madanpur, Reki Badalpur, and Deoria Adampur. The percentage of Muslims in villages like as Kharika, Alauddinpur, Ranipur, and Bhanuwagarh was between 60% and 70%.

Aside from this, the Muslim population ranges from 50% to 60% in four other villages: Achalpur, Deoria Inayat, Rampur Bharana, Bhundamafi, and Chitsupur. Laukia, Hasanpur, Kishunpur, Parshurampur, and a few smaller villages have a Muslim population of 40% to 50%. Apart from that, the Muslim population in dozens of villages such as Mubarakpur and Nayanpur Kuber ranges between 30 and 40 percent. Some additional villages have a Muslim population of 20 to 30%, but their numbers are significantly smaller.

Utraula Bazar is also predominantly Muslim

Apart from the aforementioned villages, the Muslim population of Utraula Bazar also greatly outnumbers the Hindu populace found there. In the nearby village of Gaindas Bujurg, the Hindu population is much lower than the Muslim population. Shivraj, a Dalit local living in a nearby slum, told OpIndia that his neighbour Naeem used to fight with him every day to acquire his piece of land. “After the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP administration took power in Uttar Pradesh, a police officer named KK resolved this long-standing issue, and we now feel safe and secure,” said Shivraj.

Notably, in August 2020, a resident of this Utraula market named Abu Yusuf was detained by the Delhi Police Special Cell. It was then established that Abu Yusuf had ties to Afghanistan and adhered to the jihadist ISIS ideology.

More than 100 Mosques and Madarsas within a 15-kilometre radius of Nepal border

The OpIndia team attempted to assess the number of mosques and madarsas within a 15-kilometre radius on the Indian side of the border, using Nepal’s border as the centre. According to our estimations and information acquired from locals, there are approximately 150 madarsas operating within 15 kilometres of the border in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district alone.

Aside from that, there are about 200 mosques in a radius of 15 kilometres on the Nepal side of the border area.

Besides, there are roughly ten places where madarsas are operating within the mosque itself.

This figure, however, does not include the Mazars/Karbalas, the number of which is estimated to be in the hundreds. Notably, OpIndia collected this data through their own efforts and sources. The overall number of shrines and madarsas may, however, differ slightly from the figure mentioned here.

A creeping Islamisation of Nepal and its border areas appears to be underway, with Islamists steadily establishing their foothold in distant villages, including those on the Indian border. In the first four parts of this series, OpIndia documented the demography change ongoing in Nepal, as well as the worrying surge in the number of mosques and madarsas in the Himalayan nation’s border villages. Additionally, we also spoke about the rising incidents of love jihad in Nepal, as well as its Delhi connection and smuggling, and various other notorious activities that are going on along India’s border with Nepal.

The first report in this series can be read here in Hindi: कभी था हिंदू बहुल गाँव, अब स्वस्तिक चिह्न वाले घर पर 786 का निशान: भारत के उस पार भी डेमोग्राफी चेंज, नेपाल में घुसते ही मस्जिद, मदरसा और इस्लाम – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Demographic change hits other side of the border too, Mosques and Madarasas mushroom in former Hindu dominated areas in Nepal: Ground report

The second report in this series can be read here in Hindi: घरों पर चाँद-तारे वाले हरे झंडे, मस्जिद-मदरसे, कारोबार में भी दखल: मुस्लिम आबादी बढ़ने के साथ ही नेपाल में कपिलवस्तु के ‘कृष्णा नगर’ पर गाढ़ा हुआ इस्लामी रंग – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Islamic flags flying atop houses and mosques, madarsas influencing businesses: The creeping Islamisation of Nepal’s Krishnanagar

The third report in this series can be read here in Hindi: नेपाल में लव जिहाद: बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी और नेपाली लड़कियों से निकाह के खेल में ‘दिल्ली कनेक्शन’, तस्कर-गिरोह भारतीय सीमा पर खतरा – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Rising cases of love jihad in Nepal and its Delhi connection, smuggling plaguing India’s border with Nepal: Ground report

The fourth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: बौद्ध आस्था के केंद्र हों या तालाब… हर जगह मजार: श्रावस्ती में घरों की छत पर लहरा रहे इस्लामी झंडे, OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Steady rise in mazars and madarsas adjoining Buddhist places of worship in UP’s Shravasti near Indo-Nepal border: Ground report

The fifth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: महाराणा प्रताप के साथ लड़ी थारू जनजाति बहुल गाँव में 3 मस्जिद, 1 मदरसा: भारत-नेपाल सीमा पर बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी का ये है ‘पैटर्न’ – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Rising number of mosques, madarsa along Indo-Nepal border: Ground report on Islamisation of village of Tharu tribe that fought along Maharana Pratap

The sixth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: बौद्ध-जैन मंदिरों के बीच दरगाह बनाई, जिस मजार को पुलिस ने किया ध्वस्त… वो फिर चकमकाई: नेपाल सीमा पर बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Dargah and mazar built around Buddhist and Jain temple premises, illegal mazar once demolished surfaces again: UP’s Shravasti near Nepal border