Loni, Ghaziabad: Eleven-year-old Alfisha is practicing henna designs in a book under a plastic shade at the Farha Memorial Skill Centre on Friday (September 11). It is the middle of the day and three policemen have entered the premises, and they are asking the owner, Mohammad Danish, a series of questions – where are his registration papers, the permits, and so on.The questioning unfolds in front of the students, all female, all 11-to 30-year-olds. A day earlier, Alfisha and her fellow students had witnessed a confrontation between Danish and a mob of around hundred men, who had arrived threatening to shut down the centre, calling it a madrasa [place of religious instruction]. The tricolor flutters in the small yard where Alfisha is practicing her new skill.Danish has been running the Farha Centre in northeast Delhi’s Lal Bagh locality since May. He named the centre after his wife, Farha, who passed away in 2022 due to illness. “My wife had to travel a long distance from Loni to study and complete her MA. She couldn’t even see her degree before she died. This centre is for women who wish to become independent and skilled in life. I draw my motivation from my wife,” he told The Wire.But two days earlier, on September 9, Danish was left traumatised by the mob who surrounded his centre at around 12 pm, declaring that they would not let the “madrasa” (place of study) function.Mobs start arrivingFor around an hour, amidst their loud yells and a swelling crowd, the staff at the centre were intimidated by the mob in full public view. The man leading the mob, understood to be Rajesh Som, a relative of the local BJP councilor, Sunita Som, entered the centre and insulted the female students. “There’s no use in teaching anything to these kinds of women. They can’t do anything in life. Shut the centre.’ That is what he said, looking at us,” Rukhsar, a student who was present at the time, told The Wire.Students learning mehendi designs at the centre. Photo: Tarushi AswaniWhen they arrived, Danish called the nearest police station at the Lal Bagh Police Chowki.“They [police] asked me to come to the station and file a complaint. At that time, I was worried about the women students at the centre. I couldn’t have left them on their own,” Danish said.A day later, on September 10, more people gathered outside the centre. “In the evening, around 5, again a mob of people began protesting, saying they would shut us down. They called it a madrasa, which it is not. We make stitching, computing, henna, calligraphy and spoken English classes available to women students, free of cost. This is not and never was a madrasa,” Danish said.He called the Lal Bagh Police Chowki for help again. However, when the person answering the call heard his plea, he quickly disconnected the call. The Wire has accessed a recording of this phone call.As the ruckus continued on September 10, Danish called the man he knew was leading the mob. According to him, that person – Som – spoke sternly to him, saying, ‘Yeh centre ab bandh hoga, hum nahi chalne denge, wahan koi bhi parhta toh, aap madrasa nahi chala sakte’ (This centre will be shut, we won’t let it operate. No matter who studies there, you cannot run a madrasa).Danish invited Som over to check what was being taught and who the teachers were. The man said he didn’t care and that he would definitely shut the centre.The very next day, September 11, three policemen entered the centre while The Wire team was present, and claimed that a complaint had been filed against Danish for running a madrasa under the guise of a vocational skill training centre. They inspected all the documents Danish had – from its registration to financial documents.The Wire spoke to these policemen, Sub-Inspector Rajesh Kumar and Constable Vikram, about the ruckus created by the ‘Hindu group’ and how it could take the law in its own hands.SI Kumar said that the group acted after it had complained to the chowki and that it had a right to object over something they found suspicious. Kumar also said, “If you have an issue with them, why don’t you file a complaint. We received a complaint and are here to verify whether this is a madrasa”.Screenshot from CCTV footage showing a mob inside the Farha Skill Centre at Loni, Ghaziabad (top left); locals talk to reporters over demands to shut the centre (top right); computer classes at the centre. Photos: Tarushi Aswani.By the afternoon of September 11, Danish had also submitted a complaint at the Chowki and filed an online complaint on the Jan Sunvayi web site – his complaints name Som as the one responsible for the mob.The following day, September 12, a huge mob again started shouting outside the centre. This time, it came armed with camerapersons and reporters from local channels, who claimed to have uncovered a “secret madrasa” in Loni’s Lalbagh.Students, neighbours back the centreAnshika Singh, 18, a student at the centre, said she is unaffected by the Hindus protesting against them. “I’ve been coming here since June. I don’t feel that this is a madrasa. We learn stitching, henna, nursing, computer [skills] and spoken English here. These people even called up my parents saying that don’t send your Hindu daughter to that madrasa. But I made them understand and they know it for themselves too that this is a free-of-cost skill centre,” Singh said.Premvati Devi, Seema and Aakash Singh, three of Danish’s Hindu neighbours, have stood by him every day since the mob started arriving, causing a commotion and issuing threats. “Ask them to prove this is a madrasa! They will never be able to do that. If someone is trying to kill a good initiative, we must support Danish,” Seema said.Aakash Singh said, “We know that Danish’s papers are clear, and his intention too.”Preeti, a local who recently joined the classes on her neighbour Rukhsar’s recommendation, said, “I really wanted to take henna classes and do a beautician’s course. It’s better than sitting at home doing nothing. These classes are nearby and free of cost,” she said.Nisha, another student, said, “I am learning calligraphy here since two months and I cannot afford such a course at other places. If this place shuts, all our training will vanish overnight.”Sameena Begum, a student, has begun receiving orders for stitching kids’ clothes after learning at the centre.Sameena Begum, at the centre with her daughter, wearing a dress she stitched. Photo: Tarushi AswaniIn a part of Northeast Delhi that has witnessed some of the city’s worst Hindu-Muslim violence, the Farha Memorial Skill Centre is what coexistence looks like. Here, Hindu and Muslim women sit together in classrooms, learn stitching, how to use computers, henna artwork, calligraphy and spoken English. Some have already found opportunities to earn an income through these skills.The centre has become a small space where communal boundaries are less important than what brings people together – the desire for education, opportunity and peace. But the events from September 9 to 11 also show how extremist elements want to shut down a rare safe space for women from all communities.