Srinagar, April 3 -- A Parsi Client messaged me, enquiring about my health. He knew I lived in Nizamuddin and he remembered that it was rather close to the Dargah. I told him that according to Google Earth, I was around 700 metres away from the Markaz, which was a different institution altogether. I then explained to him that it was not the Dargah but the Markaz, where the COVID19 outbreak happened.

I then went on to explain the difference between the two different types of Islam, in the two spots which are barely 50 meters from each other, but whose followers rarely step into the other's premises. By way of analogy I explain that the Dargah fellows were like Catholics with qawali choirs and venerated saints like Auliya. The Markazis are...