Kerala Church Opens Its Doors To Muslims For Namaz Sends Message Of Secularism
Mumbai: The country is witnessing the horrors of the completely anti-CAA and NRC protests, while on the other side there was an ancient church in nearby Kothamangalam, which offered its prayers, opening its doors to hundreds of Muslims participating in the CAA protest.
Syed Munawar Ali Shihab Thangal, an influential spiritual leader of the Muslims of Kerala, told PTI, “I can experience the true spirit of India when the officials of an ancient church in Kothamangalam offered us Maghrib Namaz.”
The call for Maghrib Namaz (prayers offered after sunset) came when a “secular march” organised by the Kerala chapter of All India Professional Congress (AIPC) reached near the church on Saturday, known as Cheriya Palli.
AIPC leader Mathew Kuzhalnadan said to avoid the delay in offering evening prayers for hundreds of people from Muslim community, the church authorities were contacted and requested them to permit the Muslims to offer namaz in the church premises.
He said church officials immediately opened the iron doors of the church, wholeheartedly welcoming their Muslim brothers.
The head priest of the church also arranged carpets and microphones to facilitate prayer.
“The gesture shown by the authorities of the church… it generated a kind of feeling among us… no words to explain it. We could experience secularism and the soul of India,” said Thangal, who is also a member of Panakkad Thangal family which controls the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
Priests of the shrine were offering evening prayers inside the church when Thangal was leading the namaz in his courtyard.
Congress leader Kujalanadan, who is heading the AIPC, a department of the Indian National Congress, said, “This is the message we have to deliver through the secular march.”
“This is the message we intended to convey through the secular march,” said Kuzhalnadan, a Congress leader, who is heading the AIPC, a department of the Indian National Congress.
People from all major political parties including Congress, CPI (M) and IUML participated in the “secular march” against the BJP-led government’s decision to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising, former MP and CPI-M leader M. B. Rajesh, Congress MLA V. T. Balaram, Thangal and Kujalanadan addressed the meeting held in Kothamangalam town after covering the marriage at a distance of 10 km from the mosque complex in Muhammadapuzha.
Kerala has earlier too witnessed statements of communal amity being made amid the citizenship crisis of the past few weeks.
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