Hindus, Muslims try to close rift created by bomb blasts
INDIA: The southern Indian city of Hyderabad is trying to heal
itself. A series of bombings - two last month and another in May -
created a distance between the city’s Hindu and Muslim communities. Now
both groups are trying to bridge the gap.
On Friday, a Hindu community group organized a massive Iftar feast
for Muslims who are fasting from dawn to dusk through the Islamic holy
month of Ramadan. This year, part of the month coincides with the Hindu
festival of Ganesha Chaturthy.
Ramadan started in India on Sept. 14, the same day Hindus began
observing the two-week Ganesha Chaturthy celebrations. The Hindu
festival ends Tuesday with the immersion of statues of the
elephant-headed Ganesha, the Hindu god of good fortune and wisdom.
“Both the Ganesha festival and Ramadan have come together, and both
the communities are celebrating their religious festivals. Here we have
come together to share our happiness,” said Gopal Reddy, the president
of Kabeer Nagar Ganesha Utsav Samiti, one of the organizers of Friday’s
Iftar feast. Hundreds of Muslims attended the event, mingling with and
hugging their Hindu hosts.
The menu was vegetarian in keeping with Hindu custom, and dates were
offered to the guests in keeping with the widely followed Muslim
practice of breaking the day’s fast by eating a date to follow the
example of Prophet Muhammad.
The two recent blasts on Aug. 25 in crowded areas of the city killed
at least 43 people. Another 11 were killed when a bomb tore through the
17th century Mecca mosque in May.
In both cases the police said they were investigating links to
Islamic militant groups.
No reasons were given about why Muslims would attack the mosque, but
the militants are routinely blamed even when Muslims are targeted.
Such accusations stoke resentment among Muslims, who account for
about 130 million of India’s 1.1 billion people, about 80 percent of
whom are Hindu.
Thousands of police will be deployed in the city on Tuesday when
Hindu processions carry Ganesha statues to the Hussain Sagar lake,
Hyderabad’s police commissioner Balwinder Singh has said.
Hyderabad, Sunday, AP |
