Meerut

Meerut is an ancient city located to the north-east of New Delhi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Meerut also has one of the major army garrisons/cantonments in this part of the country. Meerut can also refer to the district in which Meerut is located.

History

Meerut is famously associated with the Indian rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company when chants of popular Hindi slogan "Dilli Chalo" (lets march to Delhi) were first raised here. Meerut cantonment is the place where the rebellion started when Hindu and Muslim soldiers were given rifle cartridges with a coating made of animal fat. The bullet wrapping was to be opened by mouth before use, which affected religious sensibilities of both Muslims and Hindus as the animal coating was alleged to be composed of pork and beef.

Meerut was also the place of severe religious strife between Hindus and Muslims in 1987. The city was afflicted with more communal violence in the late 80s and early 90s. Things have somewhat calmed down since the early 90s and there have been no major communal skirmishes between Hindus and Muslims for over a decade now.

Meerut is also believed to have been an important centre of buddhism during the time of Ashoka. This and the fact that Meerut was inhabited in very ancient times is attested by one of the pillars of Ashoka, that now stands at the ridge at Delhi. The pillar inscription states that the pillar was removed from Meerut to Delhi by Firoz Shah in 1206 AD. It is believed that the pillar was built by the great buddhist emperor in 3rd century BC.

Meerut District

Meerut City is also the headquarters of Meerut district which consists of 1025 villages with a population of around (3.44 million) according to the 1991 census. The majority of the population of Meerut District is Hindu with a substantial Muslim population. In a way, the city of Meerut is composed of almost equal population of Muslims and Hindus.

Business

Meerut has seen a boom in its construction business for the past decade and the city is now aflush with new high rise shopping complexes, apartment buildings and businesses. Meerut is the largest manufacturer of Musical Instruments in India and is also one of the largest suppliers of sports goods. Meerut is well known for its sweet shops. Nowadays Meerut is emerging in jewellery desigining also.

Mythological significance

• Ravana's wife Mandodari (in Ramayana) hailed from Meerut. The town may have derived its name from "Maya Rashtra", the capital of the kingdom owned by Mandodari's father Mayadanava.
• Lakshyagrah (home of lac) described in Mahabharata — designed in conspiracy to burn Pandavas alive by Kauravas — was situated here.

Trivia

• On December 21, 2005, Meerut gained notoriety when a video showing police officers physically abusing men and women (Yahoo News) as part of Operation Romeo surfaced in the national media. This so called 'operation', specifically targeted young couples out on a date, ostensibly to "prevent the sexual harassment of women".
• Mall Road is a wide road in Meerut near what was originally a British Military cantonment. Raghbir Sarang was known to have raced horse Buggies on this road and was whipped for having beaten up an Englishman.
• In 1940s Meerut movie theatres had a "Don't Move" policy during playing of British national anthem. Violators were beaten up by British soldiers.

2006 Meerut fire

In 2006 a fire in Meerut killed over 60 people at a consumer electronics fair.

Education Hub

Meerut is becoming a big education hub in Western U.P. Students from all over U.P and other states come to Meerut to study BCA,MCA,MBBS,BDS,MBA,B.Ed courses. Meerut is having a large number of government & private institutes providing education in these fields.

External links

• Official Meerut district site
• Complete Guide to Meerut City (Unofficial site)
• Unofficial page