When those who know a stitch in time saves nine do little as the country’s secular fabric is shredded systematically, Muhammad Rashid has not stopped pedalling his sewing machine.

At 62, Rashid is keeping Roza to mark the holy month of Ramazan and is working assiduously for another pious occasion — Ram Navami or the advent of Lord Ram.

Like Rashid, the hundreds of tailors at Godown Market in Gaya city, 100km south of Patna, making the red flags used during Ram Navami are almost all Muslim. Ram Navami falls on April 10 this year.

The tradition of Muslims making Ram Navami flags in this Gaya hub has been untouched by the poisonous drive against the hijab, halal food, minority community artistes, mosque loudspeakers and meat shops.

Hundreds of flags, big and small, are kept neatly folded in Rashid’s small shop. Some are plain, some have golden frills and sequins, some bear pictures of Lord Hanuman, while many have “Jai Shri Ram” stitched on them.

Some of the flags are huge, used in processions or fixed atop temples; the smaller flags are meant to deck out homes.

Godown Market and its neighbourhood have been a manufacturing hub for Ram Navami flags, also called Mahaviri flags after Lord Hanuman, for almost a century. The flags, well liked for their impeccable finish, are sent to districts across Bihar and to Jharkhand.

“We put our best effort into making these flags because we know that they will be used during Ram Navami rituals. Our buyers never discriminate on the basis of religion. We have always felt like one family here. There is no Hindu-Muslim divide here. We have known each other for generations,” Rashid says with a smile. He has been working since the age of 15.

Rashid says the sewing of flags for Ram Navami begins a day after Holi. The bulk orders are dispatched first, then the tailors turn their attention to making flags for individual buyers.

“My father and grandfather also used to make Ram Navami flags here. We make flags and chadars (for dargahs) for our community too. We may be Muslim but our work is for all communities, without any discrimination,” Muhammad Idris, another tailor, says.

Customers have begun flocking to the market, some selecting already sewn items while some sit with tailors to get the flags stitched to their specifications. Traders from distant places also throng the market to collect supply orders.

“While placing orders, we inform the tailors of the material, design and size we want for the flags. After that, we do not have to bother. They are experts and make the flags accordingly. I have been buying flags from here for the past 20 years and selling them at my shop in Jehanabad,” says Dinesh Agrawal, a trader.

Individual customers too have been making a beeline for the shops. Kavita Sharma is one of them. She wants a red satin flag this time and gets it stitched to her specifications at a shop.

“They know these are puja flags and make them with respect. If they do not harbour sectarian feelings (against Hindus), why should I? We have been buying from here for ages. Besides, the dressmakers for my entire family are Muslim. Our curtains, sofa and chair covers are also made by them, and we are happy about it,” Kavita says.