The report, from Kerala, “Mosque answers Hindu woman’s prayer for help” (Page 1, January 20), is a welcome development in the prevailing conditions. Such rivetting gestures will go a long way in strengthening the bonds between communities. There is much to be learnt from this heart-warming incident.
S. Vidyadhar,
Hyderabad
By solemnising a Hindu marriage in the premises of a Kerala mosque, the Cheravally Muslim Jamat Committee which organised the event as well as the people of Kerala have added one more feather to their cap of religious harmony. They have also in the process proven why the State of Kerala is rightly termed as the most progressive ones in India . Under the surcharged communal situation prevalant in the country, that a Hindu woman had no hesitation in approaching a Muslim body for help and in return the body too expressing its willingness readily to conduct the marriage of her daughter at their own cost, speaks volumes, come what may, that humanity will ultimately prevail over other distracting factors. Politicians who thrive on acts of appeasement and polarisation with ulterior motives are well advised to take a cue from this exhibition of unparallelled bonhomie between two divergent communities and desist from acts that would bring enmity and endanger India’s communal harmony, amity and peace.
V. Subramanian,
Chennai
The report appearing on page 1 is a great gesture in these troubled times in India. The people of Kerala must be thanked for the way in which they have upheld friendship, harmony and love which is the need of the hour for the Nation. One hopes that those who matter in the party in power at the Centre read this news report to understand what love and harmony among the people of India are all about. They must regret their religious bigotism and divisive agenda which is greatly harming the unity of India.
Y. Zakir Hussain,
Chennai
In our troubled times when efforts are being made to divided people by the powers that be, the report come as a breath of fresh air. It deserves to be commended by one and all. People can defeat communal and divisive forces only by such gestures of magnanimous outreach. Such initiatives would go a long way in healing the rifts being fomented. One hopes the couple would live up to being models of communal harmony.
M.A. Siraj,
Bengaluru
While it is highly gratifying to read the report, the fact is that there have also been numerous and far nobler instances of internal communal bonhomie taking place all across the country but which do not get similar front page coverage. It would go a long way if the media and the state machinery highlight similar and exemplary instances of communal harmony, without the media also being conspicuously selective in its reporting.
Sivamani Vasudevan,
Chennai
