By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: Genuinely first in the political history of Mumbai, the Hindu right wing political party BJP and various Muslim and secular organizations came on one platform for sake of the communal harmony and greater good of the secular India.
However critical one may be of political organizations, they deserve applause and appreciation when they do something constructive.
They organized a joint press conference in Azad Maidan here in Mumbai and appealed to the public to maintain communal harmony on the occasion of Ganpati Festival and Ramadan taking place simultaneously this time.
The joint conference was called on the initiative and pursuance of K.L. Prasad, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) of Mumbai.
The press conference was participated by Vinod Popat Lal, the Deputy Mayor of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), Maulana Riyaz Ahmad Khan, vice president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Maharashtra, Madhu Bhandare, the spokesperson of the state BJP, Dr. Azimuddin, vice president of Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ), Fareed Batatwala, president of Muslim Front, Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi, general secretary of All India Ulama Council, Zaheer Abbas, president of All India Shia Council among others.
What they all agreed on is the fact that at present the situation across the country has become very sensitive as far as the communal harmony is concerned. So in this view the co-occurrence Ramdan and Ganpati Festival is an opportunity where we need to be very cautious.
People from both faiths come out either for marketing for Ramzan or to visit the Ganpati. This gives a chance to those forces that don’t want communal harmony between people of different faiths. Those fanatics try to exploit this opportunity in order to disturb the peace.
So, both Muslims and Hindus need to cooperate with each other in order to expose the manipulative and malicious intentions of these people.
TwoCircles.net talked to Vinod Popat Lal who was one of the speakers in the joint press conference and asked him about the need for this joint conference which was sort of path-breaking.
Vinod Popat Lal, Deputy Mayor of MCGM, started his statement quoting the popular line “Mazhab Nahin Sikhata Apas Mein Bair Rakhna” from “Sare Jahan Se Accha,” the National Song by Dr. Alllama Iqbal.
Giving reason why he invoked the national song he said, “because it is very relevant to us today, particularly in the kind of atmosphere which has been created in the country where various groups are using religion to disturb the peace and harmony.”
He further pointed out that the country belongs to everyone who lives here and love it. Everyone here has the right to follow their respective faiths. But there are some forces which are against this and we have to expose them.
He pointed out, “we came together because it is the need of the hour. Who else will work for peace and harmony if not we? There are only few nuisance mongers. We, both Muslims and Hindus, need to expose and catch them.”
TCN also talked to Dr. Azimuddin, MPJ president, on this issue. He said, “All credit goes to K.L. Prasad who helped this joint press conference to happen. Actually the time has come that we should co-operate with each other for the sake of the communal harmony of the country and this press conference was an initiative in this regard.”
He further said that the fanatics may exploit the mixed crowd of Muslims and Hindus to disturb the peace. Even a small thing like rumor may create disaster for the communal harmony.
Talking to TCN Maulana Riyaz of JIH pointed out, “on the occasion of Ganesha festival and Ramadan both the community should co-operate with each other in order to avoid any kind of misunderstanding which usually results in communal disturbances.”
Explaining his point he said, “By co-operation I mean that Muslims should take care not to disturb the Hindus during the festival and immersion of the idols. In the same way Hindus also should avoid raising slogans which may hurt the sentiments of their fellow Muslim brothers.”
He pointed out that this co-operation is necessary considering the kind of atmosphere which is being created in the country.