“If there is a lesson that Bidar can teach to the world, it is tolerance and coexistence,” Keshavrao Nitturkar, the former vice-president of Karnataka Legislative Council, said here on Tuesday.
Mr. Nitturkar was speaking after inaugurating ‘The Glory That Was Bidar’, a seminar on Deccan heritage, organised by the district administration and the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board.
People of various faiths and different languages have been living in this historic city for thousands of years. “We have never had an issue of communal violence in over 600 years. That is because we have always understood the importance of tolerance, understanding and brotherhood,” he said. The only time we had a full-fledged riot was when the insiders fought with the outsiders over political power in the early 16th century. It caused a widespread damage, even as half the city was destroyed. But then, it seems we have learnt a lesson and remained peaceful since then. We have Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and even Parsis living in this region, without ever worrying about the other person’s religion, Mr. Nitturkar said. “Another unique character is that we have never had a language riot. We have people speaking many languages living as neighbours,” he said.
Dusan Deak, Professor of Comparative Religion, Comenius University in Slovakia, M.A. Nayeem, chronicler of Deccan history, Anuradha Reddy head of INTACH Hyderabad unit, and others were present.
No incident of communal violence occurred in Bidar in over six hundred years: Nitturkar
‘People belonging to different faiths and speaking various languages have been living here’
