Ground Report: Inside The Delhi Colony Of Mohammed Hasnain Who Has Sought Asylum In Pakistan Citing ‘Religious Persecution’

From the bustling Seelampur metro station, shared e-rickshaws ferried us to a narrow, congested colony named Gautampuri, about two kilometres away.

A resident of this colony, which is filled with factories, workshops and a significant population of domestic migrants living on rent, has inadvertently become the centre of attention, not only in Indian media but also in Pakistan.

The reason is his clandestine migration to Pakistan where he has sought asylum citing religious persecution in India.

Mohammed Hasnain and his son Ishaq Ameer’s unannounced departure last month has left his neighbours baffled. In the colony’s T-block, where Hasnain lived in a rented one-room accommodation, those who knew him, spoke highly of him as a spirited activist for the Muslim community.

In this mostly Muslim-populated area, located in northeast Delhi that witnessed communal riots in 2020, Hasnain founded a political party named Qaumi Party of India. The name derives from the Urdu word ‘Qaum’ that means ‘community‘.

Hasnain, as an independent candidate, threw his hat into the political ring thrice, contesting Lok Sabha elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014, in addition to Assembly polls in 2013. In his most successful bid in 2009, he managed to secure about 3,000 votes.

He also ventured into journalism with a Hindi-Urdu newspaper named ‘The Media Profile’. Its last edition was published around seven years ago.

In one of his editorials (attached below), dating back to 14 August 2015, he lamented that after the British left India in 1947, Muslim rule did not return.

He wrote (translated by Swarajya from Hindi), “Before the British left, you ruled the entire country. Then should the land not have been given to you after the British left? Even the most junior student of history will tell you that let alone the entire land, Jinnah and his associates were forced to struggle even for one-tenth of the land. Muslims are suffering for this wrong even today.”

In another editorial (attached below), he painted a grim picture of the ‘future history of Indian Muslims’, predicting that Muslims in India would be deprived of meat, their tongues would be chopped off, their food would be poisoned, their children would be starved to death for want of food and medicines as a result of arbitrary curfews by the state, and there would be a total prohibition on burqa. Even the minarets of all mosques would be demolished, he wrote.

Readers can access the Facebook account of Hasnain’s publication here.

Last month on 5 September, Hasnain informed his neighbours that he and his son were leaving for a brief visit to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for work and would return in ten days.

However, three weeks later, the police arrived at Hasnain’s house, and questioned his next-door neighbour, Mohammed Azad, on his whereabouts.

During our visit, Azad was away for work while his wife, Shabnam, was home. She refused to speak much, saying that frequent visits by the police were already causing her distress.

Hasnain’s and Azad’s families shared a house, living in separate rooms, to save money. Each paid Rs 4,000 in rent to their landlord, Mohammed Bablu, who lives in a different block. Bablu declined to speak on the matter, saying he seldom visits the house.

A lock hung outside Hasnain’s room. 

Shabnam said that their families had been neighbours for a long time. Six months ago, when Azad’s family moved to a different house within the T-block, Hasnain joined them. 

Hasnain had separated from his wife through talaq in 1993, and had been living with his son. They father-son duo either prepared their own meals or relied on Shabnam’s cooking. Occasionally, Hasnain’s students brought them food.

Hasnain hailed from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, but had been living in Delhi for five decades. He worked as a private tutor for local children, teaching them law and English. 

The news of Hasnain’s migration to Pakistan was first broken by Pakistani daily Dawn on 26 September.

The report featured pictures of Hasnain and his son Ishaq, along with their claim that they sought asylum in Pakistan over threats to their lives due to religious persecution in India.

They detailed their journey, which involved travelling from Delhi to Abu Dhabi, then to Afghanistan on a valid visa, and eventually crossing over to Pakistan without proper documentation with the help of agents. 

They told the newspaper that on reaching Karachi, they went straight to the office of the Sindh police chief and “surrendered”. “When we were asked what are we surrendering for, we said we have fled India and come here,” Dawn quoted Ishaq. He gave his age as 31 and his father’s as 70.

The Dawn report said that the Sindh police prima facie believed their story and sent them to a shelter home.

Hasnain also gave an interview to Geo News in Pakistan, where he said that Muslims in India are being converted to Hinduism and harassed for their Islamic faith. He said that many Indian Muslims have migrated to Christian or Islamic countries, such as Turkey, and he was not the first one to leave India due to harassment.

He said that he was a man of limited means and hence chose Pakistan, a country "Indian Muslims have a soft corner for, as they helped create it".

In Gautampuri, residents who knew Hasnain reported no contact with him after his migration. His India phone number, which Swarajya accessed, remains perpetually switched off. 

Amaan Ali, who runs a shop right outside Hasnain’s house, expressed disapproval at Hasnain’s action, believing it was unwarranted. He said his own experience of living in the area has been trouble-free. 

Matlub Ahmed, a resident of the adjoining lane, echoed the sentiment, and said he was puzzled by Hasnain’s decision to leave for Pakistan. He noted that while there were a few Hindus in the neighbourhood, they had sold their houses and left in recent years.

Mohammed Shadab, who runs a chemist shop in the same lane, said he had no issued living in India and could not understand Hasnain’s concerns.

Shadab introduced us to Mohammed Akram, a friend and party associate of Hasnain. However, Akram, who also lives in T-block was not at home. His brother, Mohammed Alam, spoke on his behalf. 

Hasnain was a tenant at Alam’s house while Azad lived in the adjoining house until six months ago. Alam is a former student of Hasnain. 

Alam described Hasnain as an important voice of the Muslim community. After learning of his departure to Pakistan, however, Alam blocked his phone number.

He said that Hasnain had at least two police cases registered against him in northeast Delhi, related to protests staged by him, one of those over the Rohingya issue.

Alam revealed that the political party founded by Hasnain was not officially registered with the government. Instead, it maintained a presence through social gatherings and a Facebook account.

Although most posts made from this account have been deleted, its description says, ‘Qaumi party of India is a Muslim-led political party, in short, it is a party of Muslims for Muslims.’

(The ground visit was made by Prabhat Kumar. The report has been written by Swati Goel Sharma).