At a time when hate mongering is on the rise in Karnataka, an attempt to counter it in a meaningful manner was made in Hubballi on Tuesday, when both Id and Basava Jayanti fell on the same day.
Members of the Muslim and the Hindu community came together to celebrate the festivals as “Harmony Day” and the event also marked the beginning of a new organisation that aims to counter the divisive forces.
The programme began with a dance to the song “Allahu Akbar Enniro, Om Namah Shivaya Enniro” (Say Allahu Akbar, Say Om Namah Shivaya), setting the tone for the event.
After floral tributes to the portrait of 12th century social reformer Basavanna (Basaveshwara), the speakers said communal harmony and peaceful co-existence was the essence of India. However, vested interests had tried to divide society at various points of time, but had not succeeded fully. Now again similar forces were trying to divide society on the lines of religion, caste, and religious practices.
Syed Shah Kajuddin Khadri said the British had adopted the policy of divide and rule then and the same was being repeated now by some forces. He referred to the donation of land to a Sufi Saint 500 years ago by the Hindu ruler of Mysuru and said India had hundreds of such examples of rulers donating lands to saints, mutts, temples, dargahs, and churches, which explained what India was really all about.
Writer Kum. Veerabhadrappa emphasised the need for being “Indian” rather than “Hindu”. He said India was witnessing a dangerous trend of dividing society on the lines of religion, which needed to be resisted at all costs in the interest of the nation. Comparing the philosophy of Prophet Mohammed and Basavanna, he threw light on various similarities related to mass feeding and donations to the poor between the two faiths.
While Hubballi witnessed coming together of members of both communities, instances of Muslims celebrating Basava Jayanti were reported from various places across the North Karnataka region on Tuesday.
