M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Sept 25: Office bearers and members of the Muharram Inteezamiya Committee (MIC) abstained from participating in the peace committee meeting for Durga Puja held in the premises of the town police station in Daltonganj late Saturday evening.
Notably, the MIC is being seen by the Palamu administration as the voice of the Muslims here in matters including peace ventures and its every move is watched closely. Thus when the MIC kept itself off the peace committee meeting, there was bound to be a flurry of speculations.
The peace committee meeting was held under the guidance of the sadar SDO Rajesh Kumar Sah wherein SDPO Surjit Kumar along with the president of the Sri Kendriya Durga Puja Mahasamiti Durga Johri and others were prominent participants.
Intimation about the meeting was given earlier by the officer in-charge Abhay Kumar Sinha through a WhatsApp group a couple of days in advance.
The SDO sadar said, “The office bearers and members of the Muharram Inteezamiya Committee just didn’t attend this Saturday’s meeting. It is unfortunate. A long tradition of togetherness here in Daltonganj looks split up.”
SDPO Surjit Kumar, who was one of the important participants in the meeting said, “We understand that members of the Muharram Inteezamiya Committee ought to have joined the meeting and could have easily aired their grievances. Not joining the peace venture gives a wrong message. It was all avoidable.”
Officer in charge of the town police station Abhay Kumar Sinha had a similar opinion on the MIC not taking part in the peace committee meeting which he said ‘is not good for anyone in the society.’
Durga Johri of the Sri Kendriya Durga Puja Mahasamiti had similar views.
Meanwhile, the Chief Patron of the MIC Mumtaz Ahmad Khan said, “I was out of town for the day for some personal reasons. I got to know about it quite late in the evening.”
Khan further went on to say, “It is the most inappropriate decision on the part of those who abstained from participating in the peace committee meeting. Everyone in the society is expected to maintain the long tradition of understanding each other.”
“Welfare lies in togetherness. The MIC office bearers should have spoken out their heart about their grievances at the meeting,” Khan further added.
He said, “The September 17 episode appears to have triggered this absence of the MIC from the peace committee meeting. The Chaleeswaan procession post Muharram was taken out than under the aegis of the MIC.”
“An unseemly situation arose regarding the route through which the procession was to pass through. The MIC feels the administration just gave it an unfair deal. The pleas of the MIC were not heard by the civil and police officials then. The Saturday absence from the peace committee meeting of the MIC was just a reflection of the unfair treatment,” said Khan.
Notably, sources drawn from both communities vowed there were raised religious slogans from both sides on September 17, however, the situation was salvaged from getting worse.
The Chief Patron of the MIC added further, “I was told by the MIC that a couple of people of the majority community had then given word that within two days of September 17, both sides would sit together and try to sort out the differences. However, till September 24 no such initiative was taken. This disappointed the MIC.”
Notably, the Mahavir Nav Yuvak Dal felicitates the MIC in Daltonganj for many years, after Muslims honour the Ram Navmi organisers.
However this Saturday’s disengagement of the MIC from the peace committee meeting has evoked sharp reactions from the majority of the community which has taken a stand not to participate in peace committee meetings when it is convened in the backdrop of any of the festivals of the Muslims.
