By Apoorvanand / The Wire
NALSAR vice-chancellor Faizan Mustafa, like a wise elder, suggests that Ganesh could have found a home in Bengaluru’s Idgah ground, escorted or helped by the Muslims.
In an article in the Indian Express, he writes,”Inter-religious disputes are best resolved by the faith communities themselves. It would have been much better if the organisers of Ganesh Chaturthi had entered into a dialogue with the Waqf Board and involved liberal Muslims in the deliberations.”
“Ideally, in the spirit of tolerance and accommodation,” he continues, “the Muslim management should have come forward and helped the organisation of the Ganapati festival. Such an action on the part of Idgah committee would have created an atmosphere of amity and harmony.”
The key phrases here are ‘inter-religious dispute’, ‘dialogue’ and ‘tolerance and accommodation’. Add to the list, ‘amity and harmony’.
If inter-religious disputes are resolved through dialogue in a spirit of tolerance and accommodation, it will lead to amity and harmony. Can one quarrel with this suggestion? This is the best way for different communities to live together. They all have differences which can sometimes lead to disputes, but these disputes need to be discussed and resolved without trying to belittle either side.
But are we in such a situation now? What is the context?
The Karnataka government has created this most recent dispute by insisting that the Idgah grounds of Bengaluru and Hubbali allow idols to be put up for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
How can it be called a religious dispute? Some organisations wanted to put up pandals at Idgah grounds in these two towns. It has not been the practice for the past 200 hundred years. Why this hankering for this ground now? Were the organisers not able to get any other place to do their puja?
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here