COIMBATORE: Ten days after a car exploded near the Sangameswarar temple in Coimbatore’s Kottaimedu, allegedly as part of a terror plot, a delegation from the District Federation of All Jamaaths and Ulemas and religious leaders from the three mosques in the area visited the temple on Thursday in an effort to restore normalcy and protect communal harmony.
Kottaimedu is designated as communally sensitive and the delegation’s meeting with executive officer V Prabhakaran and priests of the century-old temple, owned by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, was aimed at stressing communal harmony in the locality.
Accordingly, the temple priests extended a hearty welcome to the delegation, placing shawls on the members’ shoulders. After the 30-minute meeting, Haji M A Inayatullah, the federation’s general secretary, told reporters the meeting was an effort to maintain communal harmony in Coimbatore and restore normalcy in Kottaimedu.
“Muslims have been living in Kottaimedu for more than seven generations. People of all faiths and beliefs have been living together like brothers for many years,” he said, condemning the blast and charging that it had forced tension and unrest in all communities. Urging members of the public to maintain harmony, Inayatullah pointed out that there is a mosque located on the same street as the temple.
‘We’ll take initiative to bring about harmony’
Thirteen members of the three mosques in the locality Kottai Idhayathul Islam Shafia Jamaat, Thareekathul Islam Shafia Jamaat and Kerala Muslim Jamaat were part of the delegation. “Islam does not encourage violence, it teaches peace. We too want to live amid communal harmony.
We hope that this visit will help to bring the situation back to normal. We will not give space to terrorism in any form,” he asserted, requesting politicians not to raise communal issues for politics.
I Nayatullah said during the meeting with the temple priests, they reminisced about playing together as children and recalled the Muslim community’s support during the Sangameswarar temple car festival five years ago, held after a long gap.
“Leave us to live peacefully. We will take the initiative to bring about communal harmony to demonstrate that none can break the bonds between Hindus and Muslims,” he added.
Documents from Mubin's home circulated
Documents purportedly establishing Jameesha Mubin, who died in the car blast, was an ISIS sympathiser were shared in media on Thursday. Coimbatore police sources said the documents are authentic but a probe would be conducted to find who leaked them to the media