JEDDAH – Speakers at a recent seminar called on Indians to stand up against the growing intolerance in India and foil attempts to sow seeds of hatred and enmity among the 1.25 billion-strong Indian society. They underlined the need for utmost vigilance and caution on the part of all sections of the society to safeguard the secular fabric of the world’s largest democracy whose real strength is ‘unity in diversity’.
The Jeddah Chapter of the Indian Muslim Cultural Center (IMCC) organized the seminar with the theme of “Stand up against the growing intolerance and communal polarization.”
A.M. Abdullahkutty, general secretary of IMCC, was the moderator. The speakers voiced concern over the ambivalence and lack of willpower on the part of some political parties in defeating forces of intolerance. “The Sangh Parivar or the family of Hindu nationalist forces is maneuvering intolerance as a strong weapon to create polarization and a communal divide in the Indian society. There should be serious efforts and decisive steps to build bridges of communal amity, and foster core values of reciprocal respect and tolerance among different sections of people, especially followers of all religions in the country,” they said.
The seminar was conducted on the eve of the Jana Jagratha Yatra (March for public vigilance), launched by Prof. A.P. Abdul Wahab, general secretary of the Kerala Chapter of Indian National League, with the slogan of upholding India’s rich tradition of communal amity and culture of tolerance. Gopinath Nedungadi, president of Sameeksha Cultural Forum, inaugurated the function, in which a working paper on the theme of the seminar was presented by Abdurahman Kalambrattil, treasurer of the Saudi national committee of IMCC.
Those who spoke on the occasion included Zakir Hussain Edavanna (Overseas Indian Cultural Congress), Jafarali Palakkod (Indian Media Forum), Shyam Govind (Pravasi Forum), Muhammad Ali Kotta (New Age India), Iqbal Tirur (Indian Social Forum), Ashraf Maulavi (Jamiatul Ansar), K.P. Abubacker (IMCC), Jiji Mohan (Navodaya Cultural Forum), and Abdul Razaq (PCF).
The CD of the theme song of Jana Jagratha Yatra, prepared by the Gulf Chapter of IMCC, was released by Hassan Cheruppa by presenting it to Nedungadi. Earlier, the function started with recitation of a few verses from the Holy Qur’an by Muhammadkutty Vailathur. Jeddah IMCC Vice President A.P.A. Ghafour welcomed the gathering while Treasurer Mansur Wandoor proposed a vote of thanks.
