Surve reserved a special hug for a popular Muslim boy: Hanif Shaikh. Amid deafening applause from the crowd, he said: “I have no words to describe Hanif’s bravery. On the second day we learnt that there were still some families holed up in Merchant House, which adjoins Nariman House. Hanif immediately climbed the separation wall, took a deep jump, entered that building and helped four Sindhi and Gujarati families to safely sneak away. He could have been easily seen, and shot, by the terrorists. I told him to take a commando with him, but he said he would go alone. What can I say? Hanif had himself become a commando!”

Surve then yelled into the mike, “Hanif, tujh par hamein fakr hai. Aur Pakistan waalon, yahan aakar dekho. Yahi hai Hindustan. Yahi hai Mumbai. Yahi hai Colaba. Yahan Hindu, Musalman, Sikh, Isayi aur Parsi sab ek hain, and sab terrorism ke khilaaf ekjut hokar lad rahe hain.” (Hanif, we are proud of you. And you Pakistanis, come here and see. This is India. This is Mumbai. This is Colaba. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis are all one here and all are united in the struggle against terrorism.)

Among the people attending the function, I was surprised to meet Maulana Mohammed Niyaz of the nearby Colaba Masjid. He also runs Darul Uloom Hanfia Razvia, a madrassa that has 175 students. “What brings you to this meeting organised by the Shiv Sena?” He replied unflappably: “We share the grief of all the people who have gathered here. We are all Indians, irrespective of our religions. I pray to Allah that He does hifazat of Hindustan. Anyone who looks at Hindustan with an evil eye, even if it is Pakistan, has to have that eye taken out.” I met him later in his masjid to continue the conversation. “Those were terrible days for us,” he said. “We were afraid that some extremists might harm Muslims, who are only 10 per cent of Colaba’s population. But Vijaybhai, whom I know for many years, assured me on the first night that he would ensure the safety of the mosque and the madrassa. He not only kept his word, but also sent food to the inmates for three days. On the third day, Shiv Sainiks helped us shift the madrassa students to a safe place. I later wrote a letter of thanks to Vijaybhai. In these matters, I don’t see party labels. If someone has done good work, it must be appreciated. If all parties just shun their petty politics and serve the nation, India will become a superpower.”

... contd.