The need to control communal sentiment

Thereport24.com, Dhaka:

Sharif, a man who was dragged out of prison and mercilessly beaten to death in India’s Nagaland for his suspected role as a rapist, has finally been found not guilty of the offence.

This came on Wednesday, just a couple of days after his death, when the Nagaland authorities handed a report over to the central government, informing them of Sharif’s innocence.

Sharif’s brutal killing despite his innocence is a thought-provoking incident not only for Nagaland but also the whole India.

This speaks of the extent of communal thoughts in the country. It was Sharif’s biggest guilt that he was a Muslim, not that he was in love with a local girl.

He might have escaped this brutality had he been a man of the Hindu faith.

Thinking patterns reflecting Hinduism are gradually becoming rife in the Indian states with the Narendra Modi-led government in office.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been proud to provide students of the minority groups with scholarships, loans and even facilities for employments in the public sector in the last couple of years.

In a Facebook post, she wrote that scholarships worth Tk 1,456 crore were awarded to some 82 lakh minority students since May 2011 which is a record.

Besides, Tk 600 crore was given to some 3.50 lakh minority people in term loans and small loans. This is another record of Mamata administration as was noted in a report of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Regardless of the records that led to either advantages or disadvantages, it should be the Indian government’s first and foremost priority to protect lives and religions of the citizenry.

Not doing this will cause other positive records and achievements, no matter how big the list is, to wither away.

Failure to remove feelings like envy, malice and also communal thoughts from people’s minds or to control those by enforcing laws will inevitably lead to situations devoid of humanity.

Ends/thereport24.com/MI/Mar 13, 2015