Despite repeated criticism of the Supreme Court, media outlets are disseminating lessons of hatred and extremism. Likewise, sectarian elements are trying to create a communal divide in society by openly making provocative speeches, Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani said.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, one of the country’s prominent Muslim organisations, on Saturday said the tragedy that unfolded itself in a Muzaffarnagar school in Uttar Pradesh is a sign that hatred has reached its peak.
“After a mother’s lap, school is the place where the child gets moral education and training. But unfortunately, during the last few years, our educational institutions are no longer safe from the poison of sectarianism and extremism that has been filled in the hearts and minds of the people by the unbridled and biased media and sectarian elements of the country,” Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani said in a statement issued on Saturday.
Maulana Madani was reacting to the criminal treatment meted out to an eight-year-old Muslim student who was repeatedly slapped by his Hindu classmates goaded by their female teacher.
The tragic event in the school shows that the roots of hatred in this country have become deeper and stronger, he said.
Maulana Madani said that if the child had committed any mistake the female teacher could have punished him. “Had it been so, perhaps no one would have paid attention to it. But the manner in which a child of a particular sect was beaten by children of other sects, it is in itself a very shameful act and an unforgivable crime.”
Dissolving the poison of hatred and discrimination in the minds of innocent children in a place like school destroys the relationship between teachers and students, he said.
The status of a teacher in every religion is very high because he/she tries to make the child a good human being in his character, actions and education. Despite repeated criticism of the Supreme Court, media outlets are disseminating lessons of hatred and extremism. Likewise, sectarian elements are trying to create a communal divide in society by openly making provocative speeches. This phenomenon has now reached its peak, Maulana Madani said.
“And now, like other institutions, religious discrimination is being created in educational institutions as well. Even innocent children are being victimised,” he said.
This, he said, is a dangerous sign for the peace and unity of the country. If this trend continues, then uglier incidents than what has happened in Muzaffarnagar are sure to happen in other schools in the country.
“And then the generation that would grow up will not unite the hearts but would separate the hearts. If the justice and peace-loving people of the country remain silent, these powers will destroy the peace and unity of the country,” Maulana Madani concluded.
