Protest at Shahi Idgah: Voices from Delhi’s Meat Trade

Much later, after I had settled into my residence near Idgah, I began to understand the true importance of Delhi 6. 

For most outsiders, the term “Delhi 6” barely existed until the Abhishek Bachchan–starrer film released in 2009.

That first tonga ride had dropped me right into the heart of Delhi 6. Idgah and Sadar Bazar mark its two extremes, the neighbourhood brushing against New Delhi itself. Idgah—my home for the next three years in the capital—has rarely been explored by historians in any serious way. 

The Shahi Idgah, from which the area takes its name (the place where Eid namaz is offered), is a monumental structure built during the Mughal period, often attributed to Aurangzeb. 

It stands imposing and austere, watching over the locality.

The area around it is inhabited largely by meat merchants belonging to the Qureshi community. Hence the name Quraish Nagar, also known as Kashapura.

Predominantly Muslim, this locality is unlike most other Muslim neighbourhoods in Delhi. The residents here are affluent, and it is not uncommon to spot sedans—or even the latest models of Mercedes—parked in narrow lanes. 

Most families are engaged in the meat export business, with outlets in posh markets such as Khan Market, INA Market, and other parts of South Delhi. For decades, they have been the undisputed kings of Delhi’s meat industry.

But thirteen years later, that hegemony began to face serious threat.

The Idgah slaughterhouse was sealed, triggering widespread discontent. Hundreds gathered at the Shahi Idgah roundabout to protest. 

The two-century-old abattoir—one that had provided livelihood to thousands across generations—was shut down and replaced by a high-tech slaughterhouse at Ghazipur in East Delhi.

Tempers flared by afternoon as dozens of small meat traders and distributors from Paharganj and Karol Bagh converged at the historic prayer grounds, protesting what they saw as the systematic uprooting of their livelihoods.

“I used to save money because the transportation cost from the slaughterhouse to my shop was negligible,” said Shahbaz Khan, a meat vendor from Karol Bagh.

“The mandi at Ghazipur is much smaller than this one. How will it accommodate so many workers?” asked Mohammad Mubarik, a meat vendor from Paharganj.