Sectarian Harmony

The call of Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) for communal harmony among Muslims is both timely and commendable following some recent statements from some quarters that threatened to sow discord. It has been received well in a place where the cultural and religious pluralism has always underpinned the co-existence.

The MMU meeting chaired by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and attended by religious leaders like Maulana Rahmatullah Mir al-Qasimi and Agha Syed Hassan al-Moosvi al-Safawi among several other senior scholars has sent a right message to the community. Their statement has urged avoiding the targeting the beliefs of other sects in lectures, sermons and social media. Certainly, over the past weeks, some statements were issued or were alleged to have been issued that threatened to vitiate the atmosphere. But give it to the wisdom of people in the Valley across sectarian divides that they saw through the game and maintained brotherhood. And, in the end, they also forced our religious leaders to proactively act and nip the sectarian issue in the bud. The MMU’s role in this has been praiseworthy. We also need religious preachers in our mosques to work towards unity of society and ensure that their words and interpretations don’t create divisions along sectarian and communal lines. More so, in an age of social media where a poisonous 20-word post or two minute video has the potential to split the society down the middle or trigger violence. This casts responsibility on all of us, more so on the religious preachers to exercise utmost caution about what they say.

In recent years, Kashmir has faced many challenges on all fronts. Although the situation in the Valley has largely returned to normal on the security front, it remains vulnerable. And we can do without any social discontent. Going forward we have to be watchful of any attempt at disturbing the social accord from any side. While we can trust the wisdom of the common people to maintain unity despite efforts to the contrary, as was the case recently, the authorities need to act against anyone trying to disturb the social peace through motivated statements or social media posts. Here it is important to mention that the local administration also played a role to ensure that the communal harmony was maintained. On Monday, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat held a meeting with representatives from both Shia and Sunni sects including members of Waqf Board and urged them to work towards promoting solidarity, mutual respect, and cooperation. However, more than the authorities, it is the religious leaders and civil society which has to be always on guard

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