Dr. Fahim Tazwar was 14 when he moved from Bangladesh to New York City in December 1998.
The winter months felt more alienating than ever. He missed warmer weather, his friends and the culture he left behind.
Buffalo absorbs still another immigrant community into its politics, with Bangladeshis voting, holding patronage positions and even forming a Buffalo Bangladeshi Democratic Club.
Above all, he missed the daily call for prayer in Arabic that burst from his mosque through loudspeakers into his neighborhood.
“It was just a thing that you grew up with,” said Tazwar, who moved to Buffalo eight years ago. “It wasn’t any different then, but when you come here, you realize (what it means) because you don’t hear it anymore.”
Minneapolis became the first city in the United States in spring 2022 to allow the public broadcast of the Adhan – a short prayer that peals out at a decibel level similar to church bells – without seeking a special permit each time.
New York City followed suit in August, allowing mosques to broadcast their call to prayer on Friday afternoons and daily during the holy month of Ramadan.
Tazwar is among Muslims in Western New York who would like Buffalo to do the same.
Sahi Choudhury, a prominent member of the Bangladeshi…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply