Professor Tripathi has also highlighted in the video, Mahatma Gandhi’s message for collective prayers and the rationale behind it. On why Muslims in Gurgaon are compelled to offer the Friday namaaz in un-used and less frequented parks, this retired IIT Physics Professor detailed that though temples have been allowed to be constructed in the new housing colonies and residential sectors of Gurgaon but no new mosque has come up. Perhaps, circumstances were not favorable, in the backdrop of the communal poisoning holding sway.After viewing this video, I have been sitting in that introspective mood: Why shouldn’t we be speaking for each other, irrespective of which community we belong to. Why we, as a people, are not standing up, speaking out? Why should only Sikhs speak out if tortures are inflicted on the Sikh community? Why should only Muslims speak out if they are lynched? Why should only Christian leaders speak out if churches and priests are burnt? Why should only Hindus speak out if there’s hounding of their community? Why should bureaucrats and civil servants bare the blatant truths only and only after they sit retired in that safe positioning?Yes, even an individual’s stand can make a difference, if that voice is dripping with sincerity and determination. Didn’t we all witness how the Imam of Asansol, Imam Maulana Imdadul Rashidi, had controlled reactionary violence from spreading out when his 16 year old son, Sibtullah Rashidi, was killed in the communal clashes that shook West Bengal’s Asansol in March 2018. Though this Imam’s son was attacked and killed during the Ram Navmi processions, yet he appealed and pleaded that there ought to be no cries for revenge or counter killings. With that, this Imam did what politicians or the police force couldn’t do – that is, protect hundreds of his fellow citizens.
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