One of the reasons Gandhi was assassinated was that he supported a large population of Muslims near Delhi to stay back in 1947," says Siddique Ahmad 'Meo', a historian and author from Mewat. The Meo Muslims of Mewat, a community that has historically always sworn allegiance to their homeland, recall with pride the special relationship Gandhi had with Mewat, a region spread over Haryana and Rajasthan in north-west India. Despite the massacre of over 30,000 Meos in the violence unleashed during the partition of India, a delegation of Meo leaders had met Gandhi in 1947 and declared that they would not leave Mewat or India for Pakistan. Gandhi visited Ghasera village in December 1947 and referring to the Meos as the spine of India, promised to protect their right to stay in the land to which they belong.
