By S A H Rizvi
The Times Kuwait Bureau Chief, New Delhi
In what is seen as an outreach programme a meeting between RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and five Muslim intellectuals held late last month addressed several key issues and the two sides resolving to meet periodically to continue dialogue on issues affecting both communities.
This was the first meeting that a cross section of Indian Muslims all prominent in their own field met the RSS Chief with both sides looking for a way forward and making it clear that dialogue was the only way to clear the misgiving and enumerate ways to strengthen the society
The Muslim delegation included former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi; ex-Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung; former AMU vice-chancellor and Lt Gen (retd) Zameer Uddin Shah; senior journalist Shahid Siddiqui besides renowned businessman Saeed Shervani.
The meeting with the five Muslim intelligentsia has led to a process of further dialogue with Bhagwat met with other Muslims group on Wednesday taking the thread further.
Talking with The Times, Shahid Siddiqui a group member said the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere as the soft-spoken Bhagwat spoke his heart out and charted a course that should end the misunderstanding between the communities for which a series of long dialogue need to be addressed.
“ We have lived together for centuries and we will live peacefully and happily in future too, the irritants need to be identified and addressed” Siddiqui said.
Quraishi, who initiated the dialogue, said: “He (Bhagwat) told us that people were unhappy about cow slaughter and words like kafir (used for non-Muslims). In response, we said that we are also concerned with that, and if someone is involved in cow slaughter, he must be punished under the law. We told him that kafir is used for non-believers in Arabic and this is not an issue which can’t be resolved… We told him that we also feel sad when any Indian Muslim is termed a Pakistani or jehadi.”
Quraishi said they also questioned the frequent vilification of Muslims, particularly the propaganda about their population and practice of polygamy, reinforcing negative stereotypes about the community.
“After the meeting, Bhagwat appointed four senior functionaries to keep in touch with the Muslim community on a regular basis. On our side, we are reaching out to Muslim intellectuals, journalists, writers and professionals to keep this dialogue with the RSS going,’’ Siddiqui said.
Siddiqui, said they had first sought a meeting with the RSS when the Nupur incident took place (the BJP spokesperson spoke out against the Prophet, leading to her suspension from the party, and violence at several places). “We felt a toxic atmosphere had been created due to the incident, within the Muslim community as well. However, by the time we received a date for meeting Mohan Bhagwat, it was already a month since the Nupur Sharma incident, and it had died down quite a bit. So, we discussed matters of communal disharmony between the two communities” he said
The process of dialogue was imperative because we may disagree of many issues, but we are not opponents that we can’t engage and find solutions. That we will in the interest of the country economic and social development and growth.
Quraishi said they came away impressed. “We realised that he (Bhagwat) is a patient listener and lives very simply. We were much impressed with the fact that despite being so powerful, he lives in a very simple room with very simple furniture, etc.”
Siddiqui said that in the vitiated atmosphere, “when even small issues spiral out of control”, it was essential to put across the voice of “the middle class and educated Muslim”. “We felt that we must relay our voice, build bridges with everyone, but in particular the RSS since they have a tremendous impact on public opinion, especially in North India.”
The entire group of Muslim intellectuals are confident a way forward has been made and we see a silver lining with the RSS chief outreach initiative as “ only dialogue will serve all Indian communities”
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