Sohaib Akhtar?s meat shop at Bariatu Basti had hordes of people queueing up on Holi. Aware of the business prospects of the day, Sohaib too had stocked up well in advance and was prepared to meet the unusual rush that started at the break of dawn.

Meat, alcohol, water guns, kurta-pyjama and rivalry are part and parcel of Holi and the Hindus, for celebraing the festival opf colours ?in true spirit?, depend on their Muslim brethren. After all, it is the Muslims who own the meat shops in Ranchi, or for that matter most places in the country. Moreover, they have a virtual monopoly in the tailoring profession. If one has to get a pair of kurta-pyjama stitched for a traditional look on festivals, a Muslim tailor would probably do the best job.

Even Durga puja, celebrated with fervour in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar, cannot be complete without Muslim participation. Most bands that add the music to the festivites with their distinct dhol beats belong to the Muslim community and are hired by puja committees for immersion processions. Moreover, the sculptors who shape the gigantic idols of the Devi are Muslims ? even Ravan?s statue erected for the ceremonial Dussehra burning at the Morhabdi grounds is usually chiselled by Muslims.

I vividly remember how the ?other? community made my first Durga Puja in Ranchi memorable last year. I watched the Hindu priests draping the idols in colourful cloths stitched by the Muslims. The great Allama Iqbal described ?buton se mohabbat? (love of statutes) as the prime reason for the decline of Islam in India in his Jawab-e-Shiqwa. Muslims of Ranchi, however, did not heed to Iqbal?s words and went ahead wit theiur love for statues.

Ironically, near the big queue of Hindu buyers at Sohaib Akhtar?s shop, a large contingent of police force was also deployed there. Administration had stepped up security in Bariatu Basti and other Muslim-dominated areas to ?avoid communal disturbances? during the festival. In fact, as a matter of routine, we, the newspersons, too kept one eye on the ?communally-sensitive? areas while we smeared each other with colours. Similarly, we saw the extensive deployment of forces in the ?sensitive? areas during the Moharram last month. On the other hand, we also saw many Hindus brandishing swords and participating in the Moharram procession.

I wonder why Hindus and Muslims clash in the name of religion when they are so dependent on each other to celebrate religious festivals. Why does the administration get sleepless nights when Hindus go in procession to immerse the idols sculpted by the Muslims? Why does a harmless incident ? like a Hindu spraying colour on a Muslim ? spark tension between two communities? After all, the festival of colours boosts a Muslim meatseller?s business.

Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Hazaribagh are known as ?communally-sensitive? areas of Jharkhand. These towns have been the epicentre of sordid communal clashes in the past. The horrendous Jamshedpur riots of 1979 even inspired M. J. Akbar to write his first book Riot After Riot. I wonder why do the Muslims and Hindus indulge in sanguinary clashes, and that too in the name of religion, when the two communities can?t celebrate their religious festivals without the support of each other. Can a Hindu celebrate Holi without the mouth-watering non-vegetarian delicacies or the sombre kurta-pyjamas?