AHMEDABAD, 7 November — Muslims in India’s western state of Gujarat will hold special prayers during the holy month of Ramadan to remember hundreds slaughtered this year in the country’s worst religious violence in a decade.
Mufti Shabbir Ahmad Siddiqui, the imam of the biggest mosque in the state’s commercial capital, Ahmedabad, said yesterday he would ask Gujarat’s minority Muslims to observe peacefully the fasting month, which in India begins today.
More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in a wave of revenge killings in Gujarat after 58 Hindu activists were burned to death in a train in February. Human rights groups say the death toll was more than 2,500. "We remember daily our brothers and sisters who lost their lives during the riots but Ramadan will be a special occasion to remember them in a special way," Siddiqui told Reuters.
Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar.
Policemen will be posted around mosques in Gujarat during Ramadan to maintain the fragile peace in the state which holds controversial elections next month, an official said. "We plan to increase the number of police personnel posted around the mosques during Ramadan, particularly on Fridays," a police officer said. "Nobody will be allowed to disturb the peace."
India’s Election Commission blocked plans by Gujarat’s ruling Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hold early elections in October, saying the state had not fully recovered from the Hindu-Muslim violence.
Critics said the BJP, which also leads the federal coalition, was seeking to exploit the deep religious divides in Gujarat to return to power. Siddiqui said Muslims seek to remove hatred and anger within them during the fasting period. "The message of Ramadan is clear, use the fast to break the evils of anger and hatred within you." (R)
