Fearing the loss of their identity in Pakistan, most of the 117 Marathi families living in Karachi want to take the first possible flight to Mumbai.
Fearing the loss of their identity in Pakistan, most of the 117 Marathi families living in Karachi want to take the first possible flight to Mumbai and settle in Maharashtra.
Dilip Bhosale (35), who married a girl from Mulund in December 2006, has been renewing the visa of her passport every three months. He wants to migrate to India with his family as soon as possible. He speaks broken Marathi like other fellow Marathis in the city.
Though these families do not face any threat from the locals, their safety cannot be ensured in case of any untoward incident like the riots of 1993 in Mumbai. “Being the molecule minority, we always lead suppressed and secondary lives,” said Parmesh Jadhav (44), who works in a restaurant in Karachi. There are around 400 Marathis in Pakistan.
“With the availability of so many Hindi channels and their depiction of Hindu culture has led us realise that we are distancing ourselves from our culture. Ours is the last generation that speaks Marathi and I am afraid that my kids will carry ahead the legacy of Marathi language. They are taught either in Urdu, Sindhi or in English,” Jadhav said.
He reveals that even his generation cannot write Marathi and all the correspondence that is done during religious festivals are in English and Urdu. Satyanarayan pooja is performed by Sindhi-speaking priests. The community celebrates Ganapati, Mahashivaratri festivals in Karachi.
“Hindi serials on Star Plus, Zee TV and programmes depicting cultural ties on National Geography have made us realize that our ties have totally broken from our culture. There is no source available for our kids to get the information on our culture,” said Prakash Gaikwad.
He adds that the Marathi population is restricted only to Karachi. “There are no other Marathi families in Pakistan. All of us want to migrate to Maharashtra. We do not have any ancestral property or the locality to relate with except for relatives in some parts of Maharashtra. Almost all of us are from the lower and middle class, making it difficult for us to take a decision like migrating to Maharashtra,” he added. They expect the Maharashtra government to help them in easing out on the visa procedures to help their communities.
When asked about the repercussions of the 1993 Mumbai riots, Jadhav said, “We were saved by the Urdu-speaking Muslims in our neighbourhood after the 1993 riots. Temples were destroyed and burnt, some Hindu houses were looted, but the lives were saved.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}