By IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 20 Sep 2014: At a time when some individuals and groups are trying to spread hatred and communal tensions for political gain in different parts of the country, various religious and social leaders gathered here on Saturday to send a strong and united message of peace and harmony to Indian masses. They said in loud voice that all religions teach peace and love to each other and there are a few people who wanted to run hate campaign in the name of religion but have nothing to do with any religion. They appeal to people of the country to reject those elements on all fronts to build a peaceful and progressive nation.
Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said that India is a country for all Indians, not for some people belonging to any particular ideology.
“India has been a centre of different religions and culture for a long time and it is not true to say that whoever lives here is Hindu but all of us are Hindustani,” said Jamaat chief while presiding over the seminar.
He said that Islam wants a broad environment for dialogue with different religions and ideologies.
Emphasizing that there is no compulsion in Islam, he said that under Islamic law if a person complains to the court telling he or she was forced to embrace Islam then Islamic court will send him back to his/her previous religion and order to punish the person who forced him or her to convert.
Omari said that it is believed that it was Britishers who injected these communal feelings in Indians but 67 years have passed since independence, we are still caught in those nets.
“Britishers left the country 67 years ago but we are studying the same history which they wrote,” he pointed out.
He said that there is an urgent need of an environment in which people belonging to different sects and religions can easily understand each other
Referring the ‘Love Jihad’ controversy he said that it is a very dirty blame on Islam.
“This term is very dirty and defaming the Islamic holy term Jihad,” he said.
Addressing the gathering, Sikh leader and head priest of Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Delhi, Giani Ranjit Singh appealed to people to live with peace and mutual love.
“When we live in happiness and pleasure then we hate but as soon sorrow comes we get united,” he pointed out.
“We should change our attitude and should get united in each circumstance,” he added.
He said that in all these communal feelings, there appears lacking of proper education of religion.
Mohammad Salim Engineer, secretary, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said that there are few people who spread hatred and communal tension but majority of people don’t resist, which sends a green signal to wrong doers. He also said that as citizen of this country we all share equal responsibility in this country.
“We are united here to give a message that this country is for all and all have to share equal responsibility as citizen of country,” he said.
“It is duty of the government to think for all and try to help people from all communities so that they can take part in development,” he added.
He said that after the results of recent by-polls now it is clear that politics of hate and communalism can’t survive for a long period of time.
“Our PM talks about Sabka saath- Sab ka vikas (together with all, development for all) but politicians from his own party are spreading hatred and putting wall between different sects of people. If PM is true in his words then he must stop all these hate-mongers,” Salim demanded.
He said that spreading hatred and dividing people on the name of caste, creed and religion is sedition and persons who are involved in such crimes should be booked under sedition laws.
Dr. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, general secretary of Welfare Party of India, highlighted the role of media in spreading communal tension. He said that media should put efforts to unite people, not to divide people.
“In all these hate campaigns, media played an important role to divide people on religious lines. Social media is a new tool to spread rumours and hate messages without any check and balance,” he pointed out.
“Government should adopt a strict policy to regulate social media and develop it for positive use,” he demanded.
He also advised Muslim leadership to take part in social movement for common causes. He said that during Right to Education and Right to Information movements, Muslim leadership was not active as it should have been.
The seminar was organised by the Delhi unit of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Delhi on the topic of ‘Communal Amity – Need of the Hour’ at New Delhi’s Rajendra Bhavan.
