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| Extreme case of religious intolerance | | |
It is barbaric, inhuman and heinous, to say the least. The dastardly
act of lobbing grenade on a top Muslim cleric Abdur Rashid Dawoodi,
who accompanied by a large number of his followers, including a large
number of children was going to the mosque to offer Friday prayer,
which resulted in killing of six persons including five children and
injuring of forty others including the Sufi cleric at Pulwama,
deserves severest condemnation. Ghulam Nabi Mir the youth, who
allegedly hurled the grenade was chased by the local people who would
have lynched him, but for the intervention of Rashtriya Riffles, who
persuaded the captors to hand over the culprit to them. Mir who
himself is allege to be a militant associated with Hizbul Mujahaideen
outfit of terrorist has stated that he was paid Rs 1000 by another HM
terrorist Gulzar Ahmad Mir for throwing the grenade on the Sufi Pir.
It is clear that the Sufi cleric was the target of the attackers and
hence there is an element of sectarian rivalry and a violent attempt
to threaten preaching of a particular sect of Islam. Sectarian tension
has griped the ideologically split Tahap Village in Pulwama district.
The present attack on the prominent Bareilvi cleric, Maulana Abdul
Rashid Dawoodi is the third one. There are also reports of the
followers of bareilvi clerk shouting slogans against the rival sect,
who they allege are behind the attack. This tragic incident gives an
important lesson to the Kashmiris at large as to where terrorism and
violence can lead to the happy valley. At the initial stages of
militancy in Kashmir it were the Kashmiri Pandits and other Hindus who
were the targets of the so-called holy warriors. After ethnic
cleansing of the valley, either by killing or hounding out almost all
non Muslims from Kashmir, the militants made the intelligentia and all
voice of sanity as their next target. Men of learning, like Mir Waiz
Maulvi Farooq, Maulana Massodi, Mirwiz of South Kashmir, Qazi Nisar
and many others were eliminated by the fundamentalist jehadis. Then
came the turn of security forces, including the J&K police along with
many others who were opposed to use of violent means to achieve a
political objective. Now the sectarian hatred has made a full circle,
with rival sects in Islam targeting each other and using violence and
killings to settle the scores. Let the left over wise men and women
among Kashmiris pause and think where this hatred and violence will
lead them to. Kashmir has been known for religious tolerance for last
many centuries. People belonging to various religious sects and
following different faiths were living in perfect harmony. The seeds
of hatred and violence against the other religions and sects has its
origin with the onset of militancy in Kashmir, which has led the
situation to present passé. The Hizbul Muhaideen and some secessionist
leaders have denied the charge leveled by the captured youth and have
attributed the whole plot to the security forces. This has been the
method with the militants as well as their over ground accomplices to
disown any such action, which is opposed by the people at large and
blame the forces for the same. Deterioration of moral values among
Kashmiris, giving go by to their ethos and even the present gory
incident to the security forces and the presence of Indian
establishment in Kashmir. But these escapist approaches cannot lead to
anywhere and will only make the things worse. Let it be realized that
violence begets violence and hatred begets hatred. Against this love
begets love. The violence and terrorism let loose in Kashmir Valley
and by the Kashmiri secessionist militants in other parts of the
country is ultimately recoiling on them and has the potential to eat
into their vitals. It is in the interest of Kashmiri society itself
that they should eschew violence and return to the path of sanity.
Failing this a civil war is looming large on the heads of Kashmiris.
They must read the writing on the wall and avoid a situation that has
developed in Afghanistan and Iraq and which is lately touching
Pakistan also.
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