Justice Markandey Katju
I read of the recent attack on Ahmadis in Gujranwala in Pakistan, in which an Ahmadi colony was burnt, and a woman and 2 small girls killed. This is only the latest atrocity on Ahmadis in Pakistan, and I condemn all of them. Ahmadis are only a tiny community in Pakistan, and are not doing harm to anyone.
If the Ahmadis believe that Prophet Muhammad was not the last prophet, are they breaking anyone's head, or chopping off anyone's limbs ?
People can say that Ahmadis are not Muslims, but what right do they have of killing them, burning or bombing their homes and mosques, and beating up or killing their children ? This is nothing but hooliganism, and such persons are goondas.
Everyone should be allowed to believe whatever he /she wants to believe. As the great sufi saint Nizamuddin Aulia said :
"Har qaum raast raahe, deen-e-wa Qibla gaahe"
Attack on Ahmadis is nothing but goondagardi, and should be severely punished.
Sunnis believe that after Prophet Muhammad's death there were 4 khalifas, Abu Bakr, Omar, Usman, and Ali. But Shias regard the first 3 as usurpers. Should then Sunnis and Shias fight with each other ? Hindus worship idols, whereas idol worship is prohibited in Islam. Should then Hindus and Muslims fight with each other ?
Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God, but Muslims believe that God has no son. So should Christians and Muslims fight with each other ?
It must be realized that our sub continent has tremendous diversity, and so only secularism, tolerance, and equal respect to all religions is a viable policy.
I am a humble disciple of the great French philosopher Rousseau, who believed that men are good by nature ( unlike Hobbes, who believed that men are basically evil by nature ). Hence I believe that 99% people of all communities, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, etc, and of all castes, races, languages, regions etc are good people. However, the 1% wicked people have many agent provocateurs among them who deliberately incite hatred among us, and these agent provocateurs have the backing and financial support of powerful vested interests, who have their own nefarious designs. We must see through the whole game, and expose these agent provocateurs, and maintain our unity at all costs.
