Yogesh Sagotra
Jammu, Jul 01 :
In a show of communal amity, Muslims in Jammu welcomed the pilgrims headed for Amarnath shrine in Kashmir with sweets and food on Friday.
As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), prominent Gujar leaders Ch Hussain Ali Waffa and Parvez Waffa set up a langar (community kitchen) on the Jammu-Pathankot Highway near Kunjwani Chowk and welcomed the pilgrims by garlanding them and offering sweets and parshad on entering Jammu district.
The gesture by Muslims of Jammu came at the time when people of Hindu and Muslim religion loggerheads over the statements of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, which had dragged a countrywide agitation and also resulted a brutal murder of Hindu Tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur.
Jammu also witnessed services of protests after the controversial statement, while parts of Chenab valley including Bhaderwah remained under strict curfew and without internet for more than a week following violent protests and social media rants by both communities.
Speaking on this occasion, Ch Hussain Ali Waffa said that the region has always remained a symbol of composite culture, amity and mutual brotherhood and this Yatra provides us an opportunity to become a host for thousands of yatris visiting Holy Cave.
Waffa hoped that Yatris would serve as ambassadors of peace and work as a bridge between the communities and help in establishing peace in the state.
Waffa strongly condemned the killing of a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur city and termed the incident as horrific and heinous.
He said such ghastly acts will only serve to upset the harmonious living. He said that there is no place for such criminals in the civilized society whether they belong to any community and therefore the government should give stringent punishment to both the culprits who have committed this horrendous crime which can never be justified by any logic or reasoning—(KNO)