Love in the time of conflict

At a time when the rift between the Hindus and Muslims went on a tailspin following the Gujarat riots and the fear of fundamentalism getting a stronger toehold reigns, Lucknow, the city of genteel manners, has initiated a silent revolution on peaceful co-existence between the two communities. TWF correspondent Deepasana reports.

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Lucknow, the city of nawabs and tehzeeb (good manners ) has been witness to many ups and downs in its turbulent social history, the last being the Babri Masjid demolition in the early 90s when mistrust between Hindus and Muslims hit the bottom. But of late something new is happening in this city that belie intolerances that spawned communal riots. Today, many Hindus are seen here visiting the mosques. Be it the Munshipulia masjid or Garden ki Masjid, Phoolbad masjid or Kapoorthala masjid, the scene is the same.

Amidst kurta-pyjama clad men, one finds some stray dhoti clad men, some with Gandhi caps and others sporting saffron robes. Who are they? Pat comes the reply from a Muslim man, “Our Hindu brothers.” Says CP Saxena, a retired executive engineer, who regularly visits the Jama masjid at Munshipulia, “I have a temple in my house which houses photographs of Mecca, Jesus Christ, Buddha and Guru Nanak, all placed besides Hindu gods and goddesses. So if I have a replica of Mecca in my house, what should hold me back from going to a mosque? I have seen my prayers being answered as much in mosques as in temples.”
Recently, Muslims and the Hindus converged together to protest against the US atrocities in Iraq. This is not all. The protest organised by Safeer-e-Hussaini Committee witnessed a rare coming together of the warring factions of Shias and Sunnis on a single platform, which included burqua clad women in large numbers too.

The commendable effort to foster Hindu-Muslim amity is not an overnight phenomenon. The post Ayodhya riots in 1992 and the mounting tension between the two communities brought together a few right-thinking people from both sides to try building bridges between the two communities. With the passage of time, and especially after the tormenting Gujarat riots, they worked harder to ameliorate the atmosphere of distrust between the two communities. Members of both the communities have vowed to take up the onerous task of being seen together on as many occasions as possible, be it for discussing social problems, or for celebrating each other's festivals or to pray for salvation.

Organisations like the Jamait-e-Islami-Hind and Gayatri Parivaar are at the helm of this admirable task. Jamait-e-Islami-Hind has even started the unique 'Dawati programmes' wherein people from both communities are invited to sit together and discuss issues like women’s position in society, illiteracy, dowry or any other social ill that plagues both the communities. Says Barati Lal Gupta, a trader from the Aliganj locality, “The curiosity to know what was being preached by Islam made me visit the mosque to hear the dars (discourse) every Sunday. The aim of every religion is to attain moksha (salvation). So the medium is not important. What the Quran preaches is exactly what our sacred texts preach. Nowhere does it preach fundamentalism and hatred.”

Maulana Yahya Nomani is another such voice of sanity. “Isn't it amazing that despite living as neighbours for decades and sharing many common facilities, there’s hardly any awareness about each other in the two communities? We are so ignorant of each other’s beliefs, social mores and festivities that it seems we are absolute strangers,” he observes.
Nomani’s ‘Dars-e-Quran’ sessions in Kapoorthala masjid attracts the maximum number of non-Muslims. The reason for this, says Uma Nand Sharma who attends regularly is because, “He answers the present-day social problems in the light of the Quran, and it becomes all the more topical.”
Similar are the views of Maulana Sajjad Nomani, a far-sighted social reformer and a strong voice on the need to change with the times. “The continued rift between the two communities has led to a deep-rooted mistrust and misconception about each other.” For Uma Nand Sharma of the Gayatri Parivaar, going to a masjid to pray is not contradictory to his going to the temple to paray. “I go to a mosque clad in my saffron clothes and am treated with all respect. I have also been invited by many Muslim organisations in Lucknow to speak and have done so without feeling out of place.”

Interestingly, the credit for the spadework of coming together goes to Hindi, the language in which the dars are held. Says M Y Quereishi of Kapoorthala masjid, “Since the Quran is written in Arabic, most people do not understand the meaning of the verses even though they are able to read it. The common man, be it Muslim or Hindu, uses Hindi at home. It is thus easier for them to understand the teachings of Quran written in Hindi.’’
Quereishi often visits the Ramakrishna Mission at Niralanagar. “There is no fear psychosis there. We know that they do not target anyone coming to their temple on religious grounds, and people who go there are enlightened.’’

Usman Ahmed, an active member of the Jamait-e-Islami-Hind and a trade union leader has visited all the major Hindu shrines, be it Gangotri, Yamunotri, Gomukh, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Vaishno Devi, Vindhyachal among others. He has also given discourses on Hindu texts in various temples. “All this cannot be digested by politicians and religious heads, who thrive on rift between the two communities. Thus, they put up barriers. The Muslims are cut off from the mainstream because of their religious leaders. The Imams have a lot of responsibility, like spreading literacy among the masses and serving humanity. In fact, illiteracy has been the biggest hurdle for the Muslim community, and forced it to live on the fringes of society.”

However, while appreciating the efforts by the Hindus to 'understand' their social and religious ethos, there is also a feeling among many Muslims that that it is yet to be a two-way traffic. Says Ahmed, “Hindus have started coming in larger numbers to our mosques because we have invited them to do so and have created a congenial atmosphere wherein they do not feel any threat or insecurity while doing so. But, we are still waiting for the invitation to visit mandirs. We have told Hindu religious heads that we would like to be invited by them and be seen with them on common platforms.”

What has been the reaction of the Muslim community to these bold overtures? Ahmed reiterates, “Nowhere in the Quran is it written that we should spread hatred. In fact, a follower of Islam can never be a radical because fundamentalism has no place in Islam.’’ But he admits that despite organising many joint programmes between the Gayatri Parivaar and the Jamait-e-Islami-Hind, the task ahead is quite tough. “The distance between the two communities is enormous,” he says with misty eyes, “and the work ahead challenging. But it has to be done, it must be done for the betterment of mankind.”