This news has gladdened the hearts of all who want peace and prosperity in our beloved country.
The Mahant of Sankat Mochan Temple Veer Bhadra Mishra came out to welcome the delegation of Muslim leaders led by Mufti-e-Benaras Maulana Abdul Batin who came to the temple to express condemnation of the dastardly attack in Varanasi.
They issued joint statements. And then Mahant Veer Bhadra Mishra, who is also Professor of Water Resources Management at BHU, disallowed Vinay Katiyar to sit on a dharna inside the temple premises.
Pankaj Vohra and Sunita Aron in HT wrote, “The frustration was showing on Katiyar’s face….”
Great news. I sincerely believe that 95% of Hindus and 95% of Muslims love each other and the harmony amongst citizens in this country is a matter of jealousy for other countries including our hostile neighbours and we will nnever allow anyone to cause a rift amongst us.
Subah-e-Benaras Zindabad, Shaame-e-Awadh Zindabad
Adnan
This is good news. My belief is that the efforts of religious leaders can go a long way in creating understanding and harmony between different communities.
Ghalib stayed at Benaras during his way to Kolkata and liked the place immensely. He wrote a 108 couplet long poem in Pesian and called it, “chiraaGh-e-dair”.
Here is its English translation,
May Heaven keep the grandeur of Benaras
Arbour of this meadow of joy;
For oft returning souls -their journey’s end.
In this weary Temple land of the world,
Safe from the whirlwind of Time,
Benaras is forever Spring.
Where autumn turns into the touch of sandal
On fair foreheads,
Springtide wears the sacred thread of flower waves,
And the splash of twilight is the crimson mark
of Kashi’s dust on heaven’s brow.
The Kaaba of Hind;
This conch blowers dell;
Its icons and idols are made of the Light,
That once flashed on Mount Sinai.
These radiant idolations naids,
Set the pious Brahmins afire, when their faces glow
Like moving lamps..on the Ganges banks.
Morning and Moonrise,
My lady Kashi,
Picks up the Ganga mirror
To see her gracious beauty,
Glimmer and shine.
Said I one night to a pristine seer
(who knew the secrets of whirling time)
‘Sir, you will perceive
That goodness and faith, fidelity and love
Have all departed from the sorry land.
Father and son are at each other’s throat;
Brother fights brother.
Unity and federation are undermined.
Despite these ominous signs
Why has doomsday not come?
Why does the Last trumpet not sound?
Who holds the reigns of the final catastrophe?’
The hoary old man of lucent ken
Pointed towards Kashi and gently smiled.
‘The Architect’, he said, is fond of this edifice
Because of which there is colour in life.
He would not like it to perish and fall.’
Hearing this, the pride of Benaras soared to an eminence, untouched by the wings of thought.
- Mirza Ghalib
(Translated by Pavan Verma from Ghalib: The Man and the Times Published by Penguin India)
Thanks for sharing this poem.
Regarding Varanasi, I had predicted on a different forum that there would be no violence in the city. The reasons I was confident of that were
1. There are close economic and social linkages between people of different communities in the city. Muslims run shops, hotels, restaurants and many other businesses (e.g. travel related) that benefit from the scores of pilgrims who visit Varanasi. The other major industry in the city – textiles – has again a lot of linkage between communities. Many muslims own looms that employ Hindus and vice versa. These linkages ensure that there are stakes in each other’s well being.
2. Community leaders in the city are not politicized. Prof. Veer Bhadra Mishra is a widely respected Mahant in Varanasi, but has not allowed the management of the temple to become politicized. He has fought for important causes like the cleanup of the Ganga and has long been involved in social activities like education. And these activities have been directed towards both Hindus and Muslims. Similarly, the leaders of the Muslim community have also focused on broad issues that affect Hindus and Muslims alike, rather than focusing on identity-based issues.
Communal violence has little to do with religion. People on the whole, live in peace and amity with each other. Unless politicians and specifically, politicians in power, want communal violence, it is close to impossiible that riots or large scale violence can take place in India. When riots happen, they happen because politicians, backed by criminals, fuel them.
Varanasi provides us good lessons on how we can avoid conflict between the two major communities in the country.
1. Develop economic linkages between communities, so that there is a stake in each other. and
2. depoliticize the religious leadership of the two communities. There should be no place in society for people like the Shankaracharyas of Puri and Kanchi (the other Shankaracharyas do not involve themselves in politics, just like many other Hindu religious leaders) or the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid (again there are scores of Maulvis who have nothing to do with politics).
I am pretty certain that the link to this blog has been posted at some hate site (e.g. hinduunity.org or an equivalent). That is what is probably drawing some traffic to this blog from these creatures (since it is hard to think of them as human) here. There are such loonies in every community but they are not representative of the mainstream of these communities. The mainstream is represented by, for instance, the people of Varanasi.
I am pretty certain that these creatures have never interacted with anybody of any other community, or if they have, it has been after they have been completely indoctrinated in hatred. The feeling I have towards such creatures is largely that of pity than anything else.
Girish’s sahab point about economic and social linkages is important.
Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India. by social scientist Ashutosh Varshney makes important arguements about the importance of economic and social linkages in preventing Hindu/muslim riots in India.