கோவையில் அமைதி மற்றும் மனிதநேயம் குறித்த கலந்துரையாடல்

May Peace and Blessings of God be upon you.

 

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is conducting a nationwide campaign on the theme “Peace & Humanity” from August 21,2016 to September 4, 2016. The motto of this campaign is to nurture communal harmony, remove intolerance and to focus our attention and working towards preventing the evil forces from defaming and degrading the respect of our Great Nation in the International arena.

There is a fear that growing communalism, violence, intolerance, provocations, lack of trust and censuring may destroy the social fabric of our nation and demolish the age old unity that exists between various communities of our country. It is quite probable that the sense of brotherhood, the values of peace, friendship and mutual support and cooperation may well be ruined if the abovementioned factors take control of our nation. This analysis of the current scenario is not an exaggeration and predictions of our perilous future are not without substance. Every forward-thinking conscious citizen is definitely concerned and worried about the direction in which our country is moving.

 

Indian society is pluralistic in nature. The diversity that exists in India in terms of religion, culture and language is highly unique. What is astonishing is the fact that despite this diversity, the people of this country have been living in peace and harmony since time immemorial. People of various religions and ethnicities reside in a single village. Their economic and social lives are intertwined with each other. They share each other’s joys and sorrows and face and solve common issues together, because despite the differences in language, race and religion, it is the thread of humanity that binds them together. This bonding can specially be appreciated in times of communal frenzy unleashed by communal forces, wherein one sees that people save and protect the lives of people belonging to the other community even if it entails endangering their own lives. We see many good Samaritans who not only support and protect those affected by communal violence but also take up the legal and political battle on their behalf. However the way, in which the situation is fast deteriorating across the nation, there is a distinct possibility that such noble souls and associations who struggle for upholding humanity may become helpless and constrained by the unfavorable conditions.

 

Large scale communal riots lead to international condemnation and India receives negative publicity with its image tarnished across the globe. Hence the new strategy adopted by the communal forces is to engineer ‘Low Volume High Intensity’ incidents at short intervals. Apart from these, mocking, calling names and delivering mob justice through public thrashing along communal lines are being witnessed regularly in villages, on the streets and even in buses and trains. Then these incidents are not related to a brief or momentary feud per se, but to a large scale division in society. Riots have taken place in the country in the past as well, but after the riots when peace was restored people used to live together in harmony again. The causes of these feuds used to be temporary in nature and people used to forget about them after the eventual restoration of peace. However, the situation today is such that solid and permanent issues are being fabricated to divide people. Tension is no longer limited to a temporary or stray incident; instead such universal, political, historical and ideological issues are being raked up that have far-reaching and long lasting impact. Misunderstandings, grievances and suspicions that are permanent in nature, linked to global politics, history and historical inferences are being propagated among communities. This is precisely why the victims are not allowed to return to their houses even months after the riots come to an end.

 

The role of media is to strengthen the social fabric of society and to expose criminals and anti-social elements. But now we see some sections of media deliberately trying to incite communal passions, deepen the religious chasm, encourage provocations, protect criminals and humiliate those who work for peace and harmony between the various communities of our country. Some in our police force and law enforcement agencies too have been influenced by this ‘’communal virus’’ and so instead of safeguarding the rule of law, they become protectors of these communal and anti-social elements sometimes becoming mute spectators to the gruesome violence they unleash upon innocent people merely because they belong to a particular community.

 

A glimmer and ray of hope in this otherwise depressive scenario is that the majority of our countrymen are peace loving, tolerant and support justice. They do not approve of the direction in which the country is moving. However they are divided, remain silent, passive and hesitant to voice their feelings or simply wait for a change in the situation.

 

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has always opposed communalism, bigotry, narrow mindedness and violence in the name of religion and it has always endeavored to get rid of these evils from the country. In response to the currently prevailing alarming situation, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has decided to launch a nation-wide campaign to convey the message of peace and humanity to all countrymen.

 

Accordingly, the ‘Peace and Humanity Campaign’ would be run all over the country from the 21^st of August to the 4^th of September 2016. This is by no means a traditional awareness campaign; rather its goal is to bring about some firm and perceptible changes in society. While the objective of this campaign is also to appeal and rouse the conscience of the country, but beyond that our goal is to ensure the establishment of a string of institutions right from the community level to the local level and the promotion of necessary practices to help consistently counter this menace of communal hatred. Let us all – constructive, peace loving and justice loving people, join hands and work together for building a future where all 125-crore Indians unite on the foundations of the strongest bonds of humanity and strive for our collective development and prosperity, so that our country becomes an embodiment of unity, love, brotherhood, peace and prosperity.

 

As a part of this campaign, we have organized an open discussion event on the theme “Peace and Humanity” onAugust 26, 2016 (Friday) from 6:45 pm to 8 pm at Park Plaza (Rasi Hall), Behind Cheran Towers, Coimbatore. Prof. Ejaz Ahmed Aslam (Editor, Radiance Views Weekly, New Delhi) will be participating in this event and sharing his thoughts.

 

 

Thank you.

1. Mohammed Aneez

Media Secretary

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Coimbatore

 

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