"The way movies and documentaries etc are being used to target followers of different religions is against the spirit of freedom of expression and undermines the unity and dignity of our country."
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The forthcoming movie “Ajmer 92” will create a rift in society, Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani, President of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, has said.
“Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri is a living example of Hindu-Muslim unity and a ‘true Sultan’ who ruled over the hearts of millions of people,” Maulana Madani said in a statement issued here on Sunday.
For the last over a thousand years, he said, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti has been an iconic figure in this country. “He is popularly known as a messenger of peace and harmony in the country. Those who are trying to insult or disparage his pious personality are disgracing themselves,” Madani said.
Maulana Madani said different ways and means are being explored to divide society on religious lines. “Movies and social media are being used to link criminal activities with a particular religion which certainly will harm our shared heritage,” he said.
Maulana Madani said the way criminal incidents in Ajmer city are being reported is very painful and a heinous act for the entire society. There is a need for a collective struggle against such crimes regardless of religion and identity, he said.
“In our society, an attempt is being made to remove the seriousness of the crimes by giving them a communal colour that is highly deplorable. Therefore, I request the central government to ban this movie and discourage those who are trying to divide society along communal lines,” he said.
Freedom of expression, he said, is a great blessing as well as a real strength of any democracy. “But under its guise, thoughts and ideas that break the country cannot be promoted and tolerated. The way movies and documentaries etc. are being used to target followers of different religions is against the spirit of freedom of expression and undermines the unity and dignity of our country,” Maulana Madani’s statement concluded.
