This Ramzan, J&K’s Doda revives tradition of ‘sehar khawani’, thanks to decrease in militancy

With decrease in the number of terrorism cases in the last few years and peace making its presence felt, Doda residents decided to restart the ritual of sehar khawani, this Ramzan.

Srinagar, June 5: Living under the shadow of gun and fear for decades, people in Jammu and Kashmir have sacrificed a lot. They have lost a lot too as hundreds of people have been killed over the years because of terrorism.

In the process, they have been forced to forget some old, beautiful and cherished traditions to avoid any untoward incident. One of the age-old traditions--sehar khawani--a ritual to help Muslims to wake up for preparing sehri (pre-dawn meal) in the holy month of Ramzan--was put on the back burner in the state's Doda district which has long been affected by terrorism.

With decrease in the number of terrorism cases in the last few years and peace making its presence felt, Doda residents decided to restart the ritual of sehar khawani, this Ramzan.

In fact, after almost three decades, men in Doda have once again started coming out on streets in the dead of night to recite verses from Quran to wake up fellow residents.

Badly-hit by terrorism, Doda was forced to have low-key festivals. Now, thanks to a group of volunteers who decided not to cower down to terrorists and revive the age-old tradition.

Speaking to ANI, one of the main volunteers, Naseer Ahmed Khora said, "We took a pledge to not let our old ritual fade away. It was important for the youth here to know the significance of this ritual. People thank us for waking them up, even though they have gadgets."

"It is an old ritual and stopped due to militancy. Thanks to Allah, it is back into practice. We are very happy now," said Ishtiaq Dev, another volunteer.