Kolhapur: Setting a rare example of Hindu-Muslim unity, two friends have been running a paan shop together for the last 23 years at Kolhapur's Shivaji Chowk that recently witnessed communal violence.
Dilip Chowgule and Ghani Tamboli are friends for over 35 years but religion has never come between them. Chowgule and Tamboli have been doing business together and it never occurred to them that their religions were different. They said that they share such a strong bond that mere rumours and propaganda would never affect it.
Initially Tambole sold paan while Chowgule owned a paan shop. Soon they became very good friends and started running a paan shop together at Shivaji chowk. Both have stood by each other in times of happiness and sorrow. They spend more time with each other than at their respective homes. The concept of caste and religion never comes in their families. Be it Ramzan or Diwali, both perform the rituals together. Even their family members consider themselves to belong to the same family. Customers who visit the paan shop admire their friendship. Many tourists have clicked their photograph out of curiosity.
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Four days back, a mob had gathered at the Shivaji Chowk area in response to a bandh called by Hindu wing organisations that claimed that social media posts glorifying Aurangzeb had hurt Hindu sentiments. The mob had turned violent, pelting stones and damaging vehicles. Police brought the situation under control and urged citizens not to post any such thing that could trigger social discord.
