Shaheen Bagh Protestors belonging to different religions sit next to each other and conduct religious rituals in a heartwarming gesture of communal harmony.
Delhi| The protestors have been gathering at Shaheen Bagh of Delhi for almost a month now. Their demand for government is clear- Scrap CAA, NRC, and NPR. Women have been at forefront of this unique protest, sitting in a bone-chilling cold of Delhi with infants and kids.
In another gesture of peace and communal harmony, protestors belonging to different religions conducted their religious rituals sitting next to each other on Sunday. “We want to show our respect and acceptance to all faiths, and that their rituals do not hurt or affect us in any way. That is why Shabads are being sung and a Yajna for peace is being performed simultaneously.”, the organizer of the protest said.
My United India ❤
They at #ShaheenBagh are really fighting for United India, and you people are fighting against it. You are spreading hate & trying to divide us. The real 'Tukde Tukde Gang' are you, BJP & RSS.#ShaheenBaghProtest #ShaheenBaghProtests #UnitedIndia pic.twitter.com/0BzyP8CshB
— Pratik Basu (@pratikbasu0212) January 13, 2020
After singing the national anthem and reciting Preamble of Constitution in a protest against CAA-NRC-NPR, the Shaheen Bagh protestors representing Hinduism, Islam, Christianity & Sikhism entered the venue and performed their rituals in the first row displaying communal harmony.
This was an attempt to execute the message Sarv Dharma Samabhav (Inter-faith Ceremony), a concept created by Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. In this symbolic gesture- a Yajna was performed, the Quran was recited, Bible verses were recited and Shabads were sung.
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The temple priest applied tilak on the foreheads of Muslim brothers and asked them to throw ritual offerings into the holy fire. Sitting next to him, a band of Muslim brothers sat on their knees, reciting the Quran. Next to them, a Catholic priest knelt and lead his small group of parishioners in reading the Bible. And around them, turbaned Sikhs sat cross-legged, played the harmonium and drums aided by notes on their phones.
“Together, we want to show the government, the citizens, the whole world, that the Indian Constitution is secular, and that secularism occupies many pages in the constitution that extols its values.” , Khan, an organizer of the protest said. Khan also said that these religious heads were approached by those who support these protests.
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