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Dutt's death a great loss to secularism: Muslim NRIs
Vividly recollecting the important role played by Sunil Dutt in their hour of crisis, the Indian Muslims said they have lost a true friend.
Vividly recollecting the important role played by Sunil Dutt in their hour of crisis, the Indian Muslims in the US said in his death the community has lost one of its true friends and a true secular face of the nation.
"This is sad news for the Muslims in particular. It is not only a loss of the nation but also a great loss for India's secularism," Shaikh Ubaid, s president of the Indian Muslim Council, US, told HindustanTimes.com, in his first reaction after the death of Sunil Dutt.
President-elect of the prestigious Islamic Centre of Long Island, Habib Ahmed, who is a native of Hyderabad, remembered how Sunil Dutt on several occasions saved lives of the minority community during communal riots in India.
"Unlike BJP and VHP which takes out rathyatras and padyatras for creating communal tension, Sunil Dutt always took out rallies and padyatras either for national integration or for communal harmony. In this age, it is very difficult to have a human being like him," Ahmed said.
Having met Sunil Dutt at a few occasions, that too only at public functions in the US, Ahmed said: "His death has created a big vacuum. It is going to be difficult to find an individual like him and also a true friend of the Muslims and minority in India."
Ahmed said people in India would not only remember as a film star, but more equally as a great social worker. "In this age, it is very difficult to find an honest politician like him. He was a hard social worker and believed in communal harmony."
For some-one like Farooq Khan, who had known Sunil Dutt personally for more than two decades, it has been a great loss. "He was a true global citizen. He always worked for the poor and underprivileged"
Every time, Khan prompted the term underprivileged, Sunil Dutt would correct him and say to use the term "less fortunate", he said. Khan was the president of the Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation, US during its initial years in 1984-85. "I remember how he cared about the poor," he said.
A physician by profession, Khan helped Sunil Dutt in initial years to collect medical aid and material for the Foundation in early 80s.
Md. Gauhar, a Minneapolis-based businessmen said: "At a time, when politicians talk in terms of communalism and seek votes in the name of religion, Sunil Dutt was one of the rare politicians who throughout his life worked for communal harmony."
"Muslims of India would forever remain indebted to the role he played in protecting the lives of the community during communal riots, be it the Mumbai riots, after demolition of the Babri Masjid or the recent ones in Gujarat," he said.
"In deed, Sunil Dutt was a true secular leader, who strived hard even at the risk of his life to protect the lives of the minority community," Ahmed observed.
