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Haj pilgrims have faith in composite culture
The majority termed rumours about possible attack on Haj pilgrims as baseless and said here people lived in harmony.
The attack on Amarnath pilgrims and the statement of Charkhari MLA Brijbhushan Rajput have failed to affect the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb of Uttar Pradesh. In a recent remark, Rajput had said Muslims won’t be allowed to go on Haj pilgrimage if they created obstacles in the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Hindustan Times talked to a number of pilgrims who will be boarding the flights from Lucknow for Haj starting from July 24 .
They said they had no fear and believed there could be no violence and no reprisal. Some of them said they had Hindu friends who would see them off.
All of them were clear that the Amarnath incident was an act of terrorism and here no one believed in terrorising the pilgrims, despite recent incidents of lynching much hyped on social and mainstream media.
The majority termed rumours about possible attack on Haj pilgrims as baseless and said here people lived in harmony.
Shamshad, a resident of Meerut going on Haj said, “Harmony with my Hindu neighbours is above everything. In fact I live in a place where everyone is a Hindu except me. My Hindu neighbour has offered me his car and other neighbours have planned to see me off till the airport. They have also asked me to pray for them during Haj. In no other country you will find such amity among different communities.”
Shahnawaz Khan of Muzaffarnagar said displaying Haj posters on vehicles was not a risk. “On seeing Haj posters, policemen allow us to move swiftly. Even drivers in other vehicles let us pass on the road. I feel we are respected much more while going on Haj,” he said.
Read more| No Haj for Muslims if they create obstacles in construction of Ram Temple: BJP MLA
Mohd Umer, also of Muzaffarnagar, feels there can be no terror attacks on Haj pilgrims as Hindus have never done so in the past.
Kallu Ahmad of Meerut said that there had never been any attack on Haj pilgrims till date, so why should there be one this time? “There will be no attack. Only a handful of people spread hatred, most believe in peace and harmony”, he said.
