Shia-Sunni panel holds meet in Kashmir to foster unity during Muharram

Srinagar, July 8

A Shia-Sunni coordination committee meeting held in Kashmir on Monday urged preachers, speakers and imams (clerics) to play a constructive role in maintaining unity and harmony among all the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir during Muharram—the first month of the Islamic calendar— which began today.

The meeting was held under the banner of Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), a conglomerate of religious bodies in the Valley.

According to an official statement, prominent scholars of leading religious organisations and sects of the Valley and civil society members participated in the meeting.

“The meeting stressed the importance of unity and brotherhood among the Ummah, respect for each other and constant dialogue among the various sects as the way forward for the success of the Ummah,” it said.

“It agreed that altercations and one-upmanship among the various schools of thought, is detrimental to the growth of Islam and greatly weakens the Ummah,” it added.

Urging all Shia and Sunni organisations, scholars, preachers, speakers and imams to play a constructive role in maintaining unity and harmony among all the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, the statement noted that they were asked to consciously refrain from making statements or comments from the pulpit, “on social media and other media and from public platforms, that lead to divisiveness and encourages miscreants and elements opposed to unity, to succeed.”

The meeting also praised the efforts of Majlis-e-Ulema patron Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for playing a leading role in fostering unity among the Ummah and taking everyone along. Farooq is also the chairman of Hurriyat Conference.

“Despite being kept under continued house arrest for more than four years and since then also repeatedly detained at home, he is always trying his best in spite of restrictions and hurdles, to forge unity among the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement said, adding that the participants denounced that Mirwaiz was again put under house arrest on Sunday.

The meeting has also urged the J&K Wakf board to immediately reinstate Kamal Farooqi the preacher and Imam of Dargah Hazratbal shrine. Farooqi was recently ousted by the government-run waqf board, headed by BJP leader Darakshan Andrabi, for presiding over an event, where a Hindu man was converted to Islam publicly.