There was this front page news on Times Of India today (22 Feb 2009):
Declare India a friend of Islam: VHP to Muslims
New Delhi: It may be a poll related gimmick but it is a clever one. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has sent a letter to 13 prominent Muslim organizations in India with a curious request - that they declare, in a fatwa, India to be a "friend" of Islam, or a Dar-Ul-Aman, therefore making jihad against India and Indians invalid.
The Dharm Raksha Manch, a congregation of Hindu leaders, also asked Muslim leadership to declare that Hindus are not "Kafirs" and therefore should not be targets of jihad.The letter has been sent to The All India Milli Council, Dar-Ul-Uloom Deoband, Tablight Jamaat, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and All India Organization of Imams of Mosques among others. TNN
I think this is against the spirit of democracy to question honesty and integrity of anyone with whom you differ.Mahatma Gandhi is reputed to have said that intolerance towards your opponents' thoughts amounts to violence.Please don’t spoil the dialogue by out rightly questioning integrity and motives of those who are on the other side of the debate.
Notice how the news article begins! Even before reporting the contents of the request by VHP, the news paper chose to question the motive by calling it a gimmick!
I dont know about Times of India, but the request from VHP definitely started a good debate and response.
ReplyDeleteA major muslim body, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind a religio-educational organisation with a hold over the Deoband seminary, said on Monday that it was not in favour of Hindus being branded as kafirs in any Islamic discourse.
I think this was a very significant move.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Hindus-cant-be-dubbed-kafir-says-Jamiat/articleshow/4179187.cms