| Ishfaq-ul-Hassan |
SRINAGAR—Shunning inhibitions, an umbrella group of clerics has asked parents to withdraw children from those schools where they are allegedly forced to sing bhajans and perform Surya Namaskar.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), an amalgam of religious, social, and educational organizations, lashed out at Jammu and Kashmir government for imposing the Hindutva agenda in the valley.
MMU held a meeting at Jama Masjid to discuss diktats that allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims.
Later, MMU adopted a resolution expressing deep concern over attempts being made to weaken the Muslim identity of this ‘Valley of Saints’.
An MMU spokesman said the meeting expressed serious resentment against imposing acts in the name of yoga and morning prayers in educational institutions wherein Muslim students are made to recite Bhajans and asked to perform Surya Namaskar. “This is against the fundamentals of our religious practices,” he said.
The meeting asked Education Department and concerned agencies that such activities will not be tolerated as it poses a direct challenge to their Islamic beliefs.
“As such MMU appeals to the Government and concerned authorities to immediately withdraw its orders and stop these practices in schools and educational institutions,” MMU spokesman said
This meeting urged the parents to withdraw their children from these schools where children are forced to participate in unIslamic activities. “This meeting urges Muslim teachers to avoid promoting such unIslamic activities and give preference to their faith and Imaan,” clerics appealed at the meeting.
MMU expressed satisfaction that Friday prayers and five-time daily prayers are now being allowed by the authorities at central Jama Masjid Srinagar.
MMU appealed to authorities to release Hurriyat chief Moulvi Umar Farooq and end his illegal house arrest in wake of the coming holy month of Rabiul Awwal so that he can pursue his religious obligations and duties.
MMU also protested against tarnishing the reputation of Islamic centres and Muslim institutions in Jammu and Kashmir by arresting scholars, preachers, and Imams under PSA.
Earlier, former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti posted a video on Twitter in which school kids in Kulgam were seen singing ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’.
“Jailing religious scholars, shutting down Jama Masjid & directing school kids here to sing Hindu hymns exposes the real Hindutva agenda of GOI in Kashmir. Refusing these rabid dictates invites PSA & UAPA. It is the cost that we are paying for this so-called ‘Badalta J&K’,” she tweeted.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah had a different take. “We didn’t believe in the two-nation theory. India is not communal and India is secular. I am chanting bhajan. If I am chanting bhajan, is it wrong? If a Hindu visits Ajmer Dargah, then will he or she be transformed into a Muslim?” he asked.
