‘We Need To Counter Radicalization Through Sufi Tradition’
Srinagar: Maintaining that the violence has no place in any civilized society and peaceful co-existence is the best means to resolve problems, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Tuesday called upon religious and spiritual heads, besides families and community influencers in Jammu and Kashmir to counter-radicalization process being made from across the border to incite communal hatred in the society.
Speaking at the conference titled “Confluence of Religious Leaders in Kashmir” at the SKICC here on Tuesday which witnessed a participation of around 550 Moulvis & Muftis, as many as 200 women and 200 youth, the LG appreciated the efforts being made to discuss the role of religious leaders and women in creating violence-free society, counter-radicalization and modernization of Madrassa education.
“Jammu & Kashmir has remained home to diverse religious and cultural influences which deeply enriched its pluralistic ethos. No development and progress is possible without sustained peace, communal harmony and brotherhood,” LG said, as per an official spokesperson.
“Violence has no place in any civilized society and peaceful co-existence is the best means to resolve problems,” he added.
The LG, he said, emphasized the need for restoration of the pristine glory of J&K as an abode of peace, amity, communal harmony and brotherhood and urged the people to come forward in achieving this goal.
While addressing the issue of counter radicalization, Sinha, he said, urged community elders, religious heads and torch bearers to spread the message of love, peace and tolerance among the youth.
“Radicalization should not be associated with a specific religion. There is a need for Islamic Scholars to formulate a policy and a process by which a helpless person, who is exposed to a violent ideology, is prevented from getting radicalized,” LG said.
According to the official spokesperson, the LG also highlighted the significant role of family, community influencers, religious and spiritual heads in the counter-radicalization process to “thwart any attempt being made from across the border to incite communal hatred in the society”. The LG, he said, also urged the religious heads and women to play an active role in prevention of drug addiction.
On social media based propaganda, Sinha, the official spokesperson said, called upon all the stakeholders to make collaborative efforts to check the violent ideology and propaganda being spread on social media by certain groups in radicalizing our young population.
“Although, the level of radicalization is comparatively much lesser in Jammu Kashmir, it is very important to focus on counter-radicalization for ensuring social harmony and national security,” the LG said, as per official spokesperson.
He said that the LG also underlined the important role of mainstream media to counter such elements and extremist ideologies.
“These efforts are not written ideologies or some philosophies but it is about humanness and helping the personality of an individual to grow in the right direction,” Sinha, as per the official spokesperson said.
“Many people distorted the message of Islam and apart from Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, there are many clerics and khatibs who raised voice against deliberate distortion and misinterpretation of the selected portion of Islamic texts. There is a need to check propagation and wrong interpretation of texts from holy books, besides realizing our responsibilities to show the right way and direction to the one who is treading a wrong path,” he added.
The official spokesperson further said that the LG termed Jammu and Kashmir as an ocean of spirituality where the values of humanity and tolerance emanating from the united culture of Shavisim, Buddhism and Sufism have always flourished over the centuries. The LG, he said, made special mention of Sufi saint Farid and Adi Shankaracharya and asked the people to spread their message of humanity and love.
“If you see any religion of the world, it teaches us only two paths – the paths of meditation and love. The problem arises when the original values of the religion are ignored and the spirit of love, kindness, compassion, renunciation which develops the ‘Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava’ and communal harmony is harmed. It is our responsibility to correct the wrong rhetoric and misinterpretation to preserve the feeling of love and harmony,” Sinha, as per official spokesperson said.
“Many cases have come up in which even a very educated person gets radicalized. We need to counter radicalization through Sufi tradition, religious heads and Mothers and sisters without any particular sect,” he added.
Speaking on the immense talent and potential possessed by the youth of J&K, the LG, as per official spokesperson said that under the guidance of the Prime Minister, the Union Territory administration was putting in all out efforts to provide them with rightful opportunities.
He said that the LG highlighted the reformative measures being taken in the education sector by the government and said that from this session, education will be imparted in all 5 official languages.
“Translation of local folklores and those of other states for cultural exchange and understanding is being done to promote the spirit of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat”. The stories of courage and sacrifice of our role models like Brigadier Rajinder Singh, Maqbool Sherwani and Women Self Defense Corps, would be told in schools,” Sinha said, as per official spokesperson.
Speaking on tremendous work being done for modernization of education, the LG, he said, observed that Vocational courses have been started in all schools from class 9th in accordance with the suggestions of the new National Education Policy. Apart from this, vocational training is being provided to 44,351 children in 715 schools under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
The official spokesperson said that the LG underscored the initiatives taken for strengthening the skill development and entrepreneurship ecosystem in J&K, and said that in the last two years, revolutionary measures have been taken to channelize the young energies into the right direction.
“The Government has signed an MoU with the Bombay Stock Exchange to provide banking, finance and stock market training to the youth through the Mission Youth program. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, two CIIIT centers have been set up in Baramulla and Jammu in collaboration with Tata Technologies. Under the Himayat program, young boys and girls are being provided employment,” Sinha said, as per the official spokesperson.
“During the last 6 months, 17,800 young boys and girls from all panchayats of Jammu and Kashmir have become entrepreneurs and are also providing employment to other people of the villages. An unprecedented Rs 28,400 crore New Industrial development scheme was announced that will provide employment avenues and opportunities to around 5 lakh youth,” he added.
Sinha, as per the official spokesperson also said that the work done during the last 18 months in the field of skill development and medical education was not done in the last 70 years.
“In the next two years, we aim to ensure that no house is deprived of electricity, water and access to roads. I am confident that the Young Generation will contribute significantly in making Jammu and Kashmir the most developed region in the country,” LG, as per the official spokesperson said in his concluding remarks.
Speaking on the occasion, he said, Molvi Muzaffar also stressed on the need to put a special focus on misrepresentation of Islamic teachings further adding that the certain elements within the community were distorting the Islam’s message for peace, love and harmony.
Besides Muzaffar, he said Mufti Nisar Ahmad, Tariq Ahmad ,Mufti Aslam, Sheikh Muzaffar, Khalida Parveen, Rakesh Kaulji, Maulana Mufti , Sakhi Rathore, Maulvi Javaid, Maulvi Shabir, Molvi Ab Majeed Parray, Mufti Ghulam Mustafa, Mufti Mudasir Mohammad were present on the occasion.
Besides these religious figures, the official spokesperson said, LG’s Advisor Baseer Ahmed Khan, Pandurang K. Pole, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir; Mohammad Aijaz, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar and Rahul Pandey, Director, Information and Public Relations were also present in the conference.
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