Following the public meeting organised by Coimbatore District Federation of All Jamaath and Islamic Organisations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Aathupalam Junction in the city on Friday, a video of the Muslim protesters making way for four Ayyappa devotees has surfaced.
The clip, which went viral on Friday, shows a senior citizen leading the four pilgrims carrying irumudi (the traditional bundle a devotee brings to the shrine) as a sea of protesters allowed them passage. According to M. Abdul Hakkim, district secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), the devotees were stranded near Karumbukkadai on Friday evening due to the large gathering. “They were travelling to Sabarimala on foot and did not know how to cross the crowd. Soon, a volunteer from the meeting decided to lead the devotees through the crowd,” Mr. Hakkim said.
The devotees crossed the crowd at Aathupalam Junction and were led till Aysha Mahal in Kuniamuthur for a distance of about one km, Mr. Hakkim said. “We came to know of this only after the meeting ended,” he said.
S. Mansoor Ali, a spokesperson off he Social Democratic Party of India, saw nothing extraordinary in it. “They even made way for an ambulance,” he said. “Despite the attempts made to divide us based on religion, there are no differences among us.” This was proved by the gesture to devotees, he said.
