BENGALURU: Kannada writer and former chairman of the Karnataka Nataka Academy K Marulasiddappa on Saturday lauded the Muslim Community for opening their Masjids for people from other communities as part of ‘Masjid Darshan’, aimed at busting misconceptions.
He was participating in the programme, organised by various Muslim organisations to build solidarity and iron out the differences and misconceptions about the community at Bilal Masjid on Bannerghatta Road.
Marulasiddappa said the programme serves as a platform to learn about the religion of one another and urged more such programmes involving religious places of other communities to exchange ideas to bridge the gap between communities and build unity. “Our country is about complex culture. Political parties and some religious leaders pollute and create commotion and volatile situations,” he added.
Last year too, a similar programme was held just ahead of the assembly election at Khadriya Masjid in Benson Town and an attempt was made to blunt religious polarisation.
Marulasiddappa said the Constitution speaks about unity. However, parties use emotional and religious issues to win elections. The parties should not break people and communities to capture power. Instead, they should speak about development. People who create a division among people are the biggest traitors,” he said. As he engaged in a conversation with community members, non-Muslims went inside the Masjid and engaged in a dialogue and asked about the way of life and practices the Muslims do.
Niveditha Shankar, a Jayanagar resident, said, “Names are different, but all religions talk about doing good. Social media peddles hate and misconceptions about a particular community. In reality, there is no negative thing about masjids or people coming to offer prayers here. I came with my Muslim friend and I was respected and welcomed for being a Hindu.”
City president of Jamaat E Islami Hind Bengaluru, Sheikh Haroon, said the Muslim community is continuously engaging in dialogues with all other communities and religious leaders to ensure the self-appointed religious custodians do not create panic in society and break unity.