Little India In Jerusalem
- The Indian hospice, called Zawiya al-Hindiya, stands on 7000 sq m of prime land in the historic heart of Jerusalem’s walled city
- It is built on the site where Sufi saint Baba Farid stayed in the 14th century
- Since 1924, the hospice, which flies the Indian tricolour, has been run as a charitable trust by a family whose ancestor came from Saharanpur. They remain Indian citizens.
- It has hosted Indian soldiers during World War II, India-Palestine meetings in recent years
- It still offers rooms to visiting Indians of all faiths
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While the Israelis push and Palestinians try to hold on to Jerusalem, India has quietly but assuredly maintained its presence in the Holy Land. The Indian flag flies over a cool 7,000 square metres of the world’s most contested real estate, where every wall and every rock is claimed in the name of prophets and messiahs. And where...
