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Indian politician suspects conspiracy to divide Muslims
Web posted at: 10/15/2007 7:27:35
Source ::: The Peninsula
Mohammad Iftikhar Ahmed
DOHA There seems to be a conspiracy to divide Muslims in India along ideological lines, says a visiting Indian politician.
Home to the second largest Muslim population in the world, in India attempts are being made by vested interests to simultaneously embitter the community's cordial relations with Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, according to Mohammad Iftikhar Ahmed.
The recent blast in the famous Ajmer shrine of Sufi-saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was a dastardly attempt to scare non-Muslim visitors away, Ahmed told this newspaper in an interview.
The over 700-year-old shrine is a symbol of communal amity in India, which has a unique pluralistic society and culture.
A lot of Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and the followers of other faiths converge here to pay their respects to this Sufi-saint, considered the greatest of all time.
The shrine is a bridge between Muslims and non-Muslims in a country where communal passions are occasionally fanned by politicians to serve their narrow vote bank interests, Ahmed said.
A post-graduate from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Ahmed has chaired the municipal council for a record 29 years of a small township (Saidpur) in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India's most populous state.
Ajmer is, though, in the neighbouring princely state of Rajasthan, barely 300 km from Saidpur and Ahmed is a regular visitor to the shrine.
The blast, which killed two people and left several injured, might bolster the electoral prospects of the Hindu communalists who are in power in Rajasthan currently. Provincial elections are not far away, according to Ahmed.
Indian Muslims have always remained united despite the sectarian and ideological cleavages, said Ahmed, who is a former member of the Congress Party and has now crossed over to the Samajwadi Party.
The followers of Sufi Islam are sizeable in number in India and their ideological differences with those practising conservative Islam remain, but the differing viewpoints are not serious. They have never led to violent clashes and bombings.
In fact, Muslims from different schools of thought can be seen in mass prayers together. "What other proof do we require of the community's solidarity," asked Ahmed.
Hailing from a family of politicians and bureaucrats, Ahmed is a founder of two schools in his home town which impart free education. Thanks to the philanthropic efforts of his family, Saidpur, with a population of some 90,000 to 100,000 people, has 100 per cent literacy-a feat in itself in a province not known for high literacy, especially among Muslim women.
Ahmed, an alumnus of AMU, refutes strongly the accusations that the university campus is being increasingly criminalised. He blames the media for "blasting small events occurring on the AMU campus out of proportion" to malign the institution. Ahmed is here on a private visit
Web posted at: 10/15/2007 7:27:35
Source ::: The Peninsula
Mohammad Iftikhar Ahmed
DOHA There seems to be a conspiracy to divide Muslims in India along ideological lines, says a visiting Indian politician.
Home to the second largest Muslim population in the world, in India attempts are being made by vested interests to simultaneously embitter the community's cordial relations with Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, according to Mohammad Iftikhar Ahmed.
The recent blast in the famous Ajmer shrine of Sufi-saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was a dastardly attempt to scare non-Muslim visitors away, Ahmed told this newspaper in an interview.
The over 700-year-old shrine is a symbol of communal amity in India, which has a unique pluralistic society and culture.
A lot of Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and the followers of other faiths converge here to pay their respects to this Sufi-saint, considered the greatest of all time.
The shrine is a bridge between Muslims and non-Muslims in a country where communal passions are occasionally fanned by politicians to serve their narrow vote bank interests, Ahmed said.
A post-graduate from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Ahmed has chaired the municipal council for a record 29 years of a small township (Saidpur) in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India's most populous state.
Ajmer is, though, in the neighbouring princely state of Rajasthan, barely 300 km from Saidpur and Ahmed is a regular visitor to the shrine.
The blast, which killed two people and left several injured, might bolster the electoral prospects of the Hindu communalists who are in power in Rajasthan currently. Provincial elections are not far away, according to Ahmed.
Indian Muslims have always remained united despite the sectarian and ideological cleavages, said Ahmed, who is a former member of the Congress Party and has now crossed over to the Samajwadi Party.
The followers of Sufi Islam are sizeable in number in India and their ideological differences with those practising conservative Islam remain, but the differing viewpoints are not serious. They have never led to violent clashes and bombings.
In fact, Muslims from different schools of thought can be seen in mass prayers together. "What other proof do we require of the community's solidarity," asked Ahmed.
Hailing from a family of politicians and bureaucrats, Ahmed is a founder of two schools in his home town which impart free education. Thanks to the philanthropic efforts of his family, Saidpur, with a population of some 90,000 to 100,000 people, has 100 per cent literacy-a feat in itself in a province not known for high literacy, especially among Muslim women.
Ahmed, an alumnus of AMU, refutes strongly the accusations that the university campus is being increasingly criminalised. He blames the media for "blasting small events occurring on the AMU campus out of proportion" to malign the institution. Ahmed is here on a private visit
