Communal riots taking place in Bareilly raises several uncomfortable questions before us. The first point is that Uttar Pradesh has been free of communal riots for a long time. There were attempts in the past to increase communal polarization and enmity, and religious sentiments were continuously being used in politics, but this state was spared from communal violence.
Immediate Reasons
The riot that took place in Bareilly started with the skirmish during the procession of Barawafat (birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad), but the ground for it was being prepared for long. No matter what the immediate reasons for communal riots are, preparations for them are made much in advance, and if eyes of the administration and society are sharp, they could see these signs floating in the air.
It is also a strange thing that the riot took place in the city of Bareilly, which has been Ala Hazarat or Ahmed Raza Khan's place of work, and even today his tomb is a place of worship for all.
Culture and Tolerance
Ahmed Raza Khan was a Muslim religious cleric who was the propagator of that sect of Islam, which is known as "Barelavi" sect. As opposed to pure fundamentalist Salafi or Wahabi sect, Barelavi is a liberal and coordinating sect and it is believed that most Muslims in the world believe in this sect. In the Barelavi sect, local culture and tolerance has been accepted. Ala Hazarat was a scholar of Islamic scriptures and Islamic scholars around the world respected him. In fact, Ala Hazarat defined the liberality and peace-loving qualities of Islam on the basis of religious scriptures, which is being easily followed by most of the Muslim community. Therefore, it should be considered as regrettable that communal violence spreads in a city that has such tolerance.
Otherwise also, the path that India is treading now, there should be no scope for quarrels on the basis of religion and caste. But communal riots are taking place in Karnataka in the South and in Bareilly in the North. During riots, none of the parties wins or loses, only those people win whose selfish motives are achieved by inciting communal violence, and common people no matter what community they belong to always lose.
Target of Terrorism
India has continuously been a target of terrorism and terrorists consider themselves as the real followers of a particular religion but despite that there is no tendency of communal polarization and violence among the Indian people. Wherever there have been communal riots, local vested interests have started them in a well-planned manner, be it in Gujarat or Karnataka. In Bareilly too, such elements could be identified and the administration should take strict action against them and the society should boycott them.
Issues like food, clothes, power, water, development, and security are more important to common man, no matter what community he belongs to. While solving these problems, the society should have no time to fight in the name of religion. Let us hope that the spark of Bareilly would be extinguished there itself and this blaze would not spread further.
6 comments:
Nice article. I hope people read it and make true sense out of it.
Good to see this article. I stay away from bareilly and, as the riot news is been suppressed by the administration, I am not able to read and hear about it in any source of media. I have come to know that, till date riot has not eased and there are shops of Hindus and Muslims been put on fire daily.
Being lived in the city for years..i know that there is no sence of hatred between the people of both religion. It’s just a pre - planed activity by some political ppl, which is causing big loss to innocent ppl of the city.
God bless this city.
why people do not understand we r indian only and fight against hindu or muslim .....some of people did this and we all faced problem, we all are in tension ...... i hope the people understand and first learn the lesson of humanity ......
So please help me understand. There was a leader/preacher called Tauquir Raza Khan. He was arrested for preaching hate towards the Hindoos. A large number of people gathered in a stadium and threatened violence unless he was released.
Is that the tolerance you're talking about? Just curious.
The actual problem started when dirty clothes were thrown inside a mosque which further inflamed communal passions. The point is that whoever might have started or inflamed the friction between two communities the liberal masses should unite and counter the extremist propaganda that leads to violence.
Certain corrections are in order. There are no sects in Sunni Islam, merely schools of thoughts such as Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali that constitute the real Ahle Sunna wal Jamaat that form the largest Muslim body in the world and who also follow the Sufi teachings. Again, no Muslim worships tombs. Visiting shrines of saints and pious personalities does not mean they are being worshipped. Therefore it is false to suggest that the tomb of the great scholar Ahmad Raza Khan is worshipped in Bareilly. Then, Ahmad Raza Khan did not propagate any sect such as Barelvi Sect but followed the Hanafi school of thought and was of Qadri Sufistic Order. According to Dr. Tahirul Qadri, he never even wrote the word “Barelvi” after his name anywhere in his writings. Therefore, to denote him as being of Barelvi Sect is sheer ignorance. The word “Barelvi” is merely for convenience of identification of geographical place and does not connote a Sect. Just as “Deobandi” does not connote a sect but merely those who are influenced by teachings of the Deoband school, but with a slight difference that they have been recently inclined more towards Wahhabism – thanks to the petro-dollars. The other groups such Islamists, Jihadist, etc., are opposed to Sufi teachings and peace and are part of Wahhabism (also called Salafism) and actually follow the radical teachings of Mohammed ibn Wahhab who appeared in Saudi Arabia some two centuries ago thanks to British conspiracy. They have been responsible for killing thousands of Sunni Muslims. The Jihadis are tasked to operate in Afghanistan, India, Bosnia, Chechnya and other countries to promote the goal of international Jihadi brand of Islam and are not really from Ahle Sunnah wal Jamaat. Hence, in the current circumstances in Bareilly or anywhere else in the world, it is very important to distinguish the real perpetrators of communal riots, suicide bombings, destroyers of Muslim shrines and graveyards, and wholesale genocide. The Sunni Muslims whether from Bareilly or elsewhere in the world are against all these crimes against humanity and are not connected with the terrorists.
NASIR
Post a Comment