Shahjahanabad….a city lost in time!
Shahjahanabad is the old capital of the mughals built by shahjahan.
It is located right in front of the Lal Quila..the royal fortress of the mughals when their capital was in delhi.
But now the city is known as “old delhi” or the “walled city”.
“Old delhi” is the symbol of the ruins of the town that existed before the advent of the Britishers.
When the Britishers came..they started developing a new capital for themselves on the outskirts of Shahjahanabad or our very own delhi. They called it “new delhi” and thats how “old delhi” came into being.
With time a new city around the walled city of shahjahan was built. Its expanding till date.
A magnificent city was built all around the walled city but no one cared for the “walled city” itself. Tall buildings were built all around the walled city but these so called “signs of development” never touched our “walled city”.
“Walled city” still continues to be the “safest muslim neighbourhood in India” and probably for that reason the “walled city dwellers” are paying a huge price!
We dnt have good roads…its said that walled city is all about dingy streets, busy markets, butchers, and ignorant people!
Nobody wants to peep into the not-so-delhi kind of a place thats a big black spot on delhi’s posh neighbourhoods and markets. Only those who have a good taste in food visit the karim’s which is famous for its chicken! Others treat walled city as if its not there!
During the time of the so called “emergency” hundreds of houses were destroyed in the name of the master plan or sanjay gandhi’s dream of making delhi as good as paris.
Those people are still waiting to get their share of walls! Some people who were lucky enough were allotted mcd flats but the condition of mcd flats in turkman gate area is not less than slums. When you stand there..its a scary experience..
People have learned to make this distinction between “old delhi” and “new delhi” so much so that children from “old delhi” dnt get admissions to good schools in “new delhi”.
The authorities blatantly give the reason…”sorry we dnt take students from the walled city”…”rules are rules”..
they can take students who live in noida..a city in haryana that just touches delhi..but they cannot take students from the “walled city”..MAY BE WE ARE NOT HUMANS OR NOT COMPATIBLE TO OUR NEW DELHI COUNTERPARTS!!!
One of my uncles is trying to get his daughter admitted to a convent just 20 mins from our place…but they gave the reason…”we dnt take children from your area”.
When i joined hansraj one of the top most colleges in India I was reminded time and again…that i belong to “old delhi”…but now i care a damn!
The rest of the people only talk of “walled city” when they want to compare it with the lavish “new delhi”..
and for most of them…”old delhi” is just not there!
October 19th, 2006 at 10:30 am
Ooooh Me the first to comment!
Nice entry…
This is the case wit other cities as well but not as pronounced….for instance in Mumbai…Md Ali rd or Nagpada ppl rnt even issued credit cards!
October 20th, 2006 at 2:29 am
[…] Aqsa talks about the deplorable condition of Muslim majority area in Delhi […]
December 11th, 2006 at 8:06 am
I commented on Dehli in some of your postings. Alas we start with name and not be ashamed about being from Dehli. The post itself is not very accurate.(We=Muslims) There is nothing like the ruins which are Dehli but the part which houses the Government offices is New Dehli, rest other is Dehli. To use ‘Old’ for Dehli is a misnomer. Please bear with all the right thinking people. As far neglect is concerned, all skewed minded people think that anything Muslim cannot be modern but they forget that Makkah, Madeenah Munawwara, or Dubai are very much Muslim or even only Muslim. You can not compare the Casino only Paris or London with these great cities. Sachar Report says that though muslim houses are at par with other communities, the municipal bodies do what the Criminal(ead Hindu)call appeasement, neglect is the right word.Or should I ask them to visit Islamabad or Karachi?!?!?
December 11th, 2006 at 10:34 am
naqqad,
i guess you dont know i myself am a delhite…
dont start teaching me what is delhi and what is not. and write it somewhere i m proud of being a delhite and will continue being the same!
old delhi, is used for the walled city by the people who find it odd enough. discriminating people on the basis of their respective areas has been the theme of my post….understand?
February 28th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……….
discrimination within the city……….hoon
newayz as far as karachi and lahore are concern though ppl living in old city they have to face some problem ( for exaple …water , telephone and other utilities ….. coz of robust growth in pouplation and utilities could not be upgraded at par ) but no such discrimination exist ……….
even there are general perception that they are more wealthy ppls..then uptown
March 8th, 2008 at 8:39 am
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March 8th, 2008 at 10:40 am
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