Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, on Monday asked Anna Hazare why he and his campaign managers did not do more to involve Muslims in their anti-graft movement.
At a time when Mr. Hazare’s campaign has caught the imagination of the country, Mr. Bukhari said the ‘Gandhian’ needed to learn more from the Mahatma on how to spin all sections of the society together in a mass movement.
“When Gandhi took up a cause, he made sure he included in it grievances of every Indian constituency, only then did his campaigns take up the shape of an unassailable national movements,” he said.
Mr. Bukhari said Gandhi took everyone along but Mr. Hazare has never taken up any issue of concern to the Muslims.
“He did not fast for a day, when Muslims were killed in Gujarat in 2002. We never heard from him when anti-Muslim riots happened in his home State’s capital Mumbai. He could at least have made an effort to involve the community. We are hurt by this,” said Mr. Bukhari.
Mr. Bukhari said corruption will not end in a day or just by signing a bill and it was the society that needs to be changed and therefore it is very important to take up more than one issue of national importance in any such national campaign.
