Ganesh Utsav & indian muslims

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Ganeshotsav and Indian Muslims
>
> By Irfan Engineer
>
> Popular perception of Muslims in India, and perhaps
> internationally also, is that Muslims are very
> religious and conservative. Media and Muslim Ulema,
> both should be credited for such a perception about
> Muslims. Recently, Bollywood actor Salman Khan
> hosted Lord Ganesha in his house for a day during
> this festive season and the fatwa issued by ulemas
> suggesting Salman Khan will have to reconvert to
> Islam by reciting his kalma before he can offer his
> namaz again or enter Mosque. Nobody has asked for
> opinion of Ulema. Salman Khan or any of his family
> members didn't for any Ulema's opinion and didn't
> want to be guided by them in their faith. Nor I
> believe, they will heed the fatwa. Muslim Ulema have
> given suo moto fatwas on many issues. Sania Mirza
> and Shabana Azmi were other Muslim public figures
> who subject of Ulema's unsolicited fatwas. When
> South African President - Nelson Mandela had pecked
> Shabana Azmi's cheeks, and Sania Mirza on her attire
> while playing her game, were ordered by the fatwa to
> cease or repent on their action. Like Salman Khan,
> neither Shabana Azmi nor Sania Mirza cared for the
> fatwas. Media was too eager to cover such fatwas as
> they manage to get better TRPs and print media sells
> more copies. Though give impression that there is
> unanimity in Muslims about the fatwas issued by
> ulema. Nobody else seemed to care about these
> fatwas, except some conservative section within the
> community who see it as an opportunity to come on TV
> debates with their beards and skull caps. However, I
> will not be surprised if the viewers and the readers
> carry home the view that Muslims are very inflexible
> and uncompromising in religious matters.
>
> Salman Khan was not the only Khan who has
> participated in Ganeshotsav or other Hindu
> festivals. My own investigations and filed surveys
> show that a number of Muslims participate in
> Ganeshotsav Mandals and in festivities and
> celebrations of all religions. In the year 1997,
> there were communal riots in Pen Taluka in Alibaug
> District, about 150 K.Ms. from Mumbai. Shiv Sena BJP
> coalition was in power. Muslims of Pen alleged that
> some of those in Ganesh Visarjan procession of a
> particular mandal refused to budge from the spot
> where mosque was located for over 45 minutes and
> were playing loud music deliberately to provoke.
> Some threw vermillion on the mosque and evidence of
> that was visible during our investigation at the
> height of about 20 feet above on the mosque and in
> the water with which Namazis perform their
> ablutions. Some Muslim youth got provoked despite
> the advice of elders to the contrary and threw
> stones on the procession leading to mayhem. There
> was lathi charge and the processionists had no
> option but to leave Lord Ganesha there and to run
> for their lives. Several people were injured in the
> lathi charge. Later, a Muslim youth felt disturbed
> seeing idol of Lord Ganesha lying in open. He
> mobilized his friends - both Hindus and Muslims and
> together they completed the visarjan of Lord Ganesha
> with all the rituals. We confirmed this from many
> Hindus, and even the local RSS pracharak. We also
> found many Muslims in Pen taluka who were office
> bearers in various Ganeshotsav Mandals.
>
> In the same year there were riots in Junnar Taluka
> near Pune. I and Secretary of Bahujan Mahasangh
> Shantaram Pandhere proceeded to Junnar to do fact
> finding of the riots, again over visarjan of Lord
> Ganesha. On the way Pandhere asked me, why don't
> Muslims welcome the visarjan procession while they
> are passing through the mosque as that would root
> out any potential mischief by any communal element.
> I thought yes the solution was not so difficult and
> Muslims could be persuaded to do so. When we reached
> Junnar and talked to the Muslims and Hindus from
> various parties, we found the Muslim response to the
> procession was that on one hand they had covered the
> mosque with tadpatri cloth so that while visarjan
> processions are passing, vermilion wouldn't land on
> Mosques. In the Konkan belt, Ganeshotsav is as
> enthusiastically celebrated by the Muslims as by
> Hindus, if not with more enthusiasm. Even in Mumbai,
> several Muslim Mumbaikars participate in
> celebrations of Ganeshotsav and other Non-Muslim
> Festivals like Holi and Diwali. Likewise, Tazias as
> worshipped by Hindu women in most of rural areas.
> Why then the Ulemas chose to single out and react to
> only Salman Khan? Was it because he is a Bollywood
> actor and issuing fatwa against him ensures a good
> media controversy and therefore publicity? Is that
> the reason why unsolicited fatwas were issued
> against Shabana Azmi and Sania Mirza? If the answer
> to these questions is yes, and I don't see any other
> reason for issuing suo moto and unsolicited fatwas,
> the less said about personal ambitions of such
> religious leaders, the better. Nizamuddin Awliya,
> while walking on the banks of river Yamuna in the
> wee hours of morning, once told his disciple Khusro
> pointing to a Hindu women performing surya namaskar:
> O Khusro! Don't look at her with indifferent eye,
> she is also worshipping Allah. For there are as many
> ways of worshipping (ibadat) Allah as the sand
> particles on the bank of river Yamuna! Sufi saints
> never gave importance any particular way of ibadat.
> What was important was to raise oneself to be
> spiritual and have love of Allah in his/her heart.
> Love of Allah means to love and serve all his
> creation, including all human beings irrespective of
> their religion and ways of worship, animals, plants
> and nature.
>
> Thanks to our lazy habits, our knowledge, outside
> our daily chores, profession and carrier is almost
> entirely dependant on media. Rarely do we feel
> motivated to re-examine what popular media doles out
> to its viewers and readers and look at fact beyond.
> We want knowledge, but only what is served to us
> easily. We become uncritical and passive consumer of
> news. We let media shape our perceptions and
> attitudes, particularly about minorities, and too
> willingly agree that Muslims are inflexible in
> exercise of their religion. The segregated and
> ghettoized lives that we live, facilitates these
> perceptions. When the media covers the threats of
> Hindu moral police objecting to Richard Gere kissing
> Shilpa Shetty, we do not conclude that entire Hindu
> society is conservative, for we know from our
> experience that it is not so. We are naturally more
> knowledgeable about our own situation. Why do we,
> then, so naively conclude that an isolated threat
> issued by conservative section of Muslim community
> represents the views of entire community and there
> is no diversity of opinion within the community?