Muslims shower petals, offer sherbet during Hanuman Jayanti processions in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh

Amid the incidents of clashes and violence, examples of bonhomie have been witnessed in Kota and Bhopal cities where Muslims offered sherbet and showered flowers on their Hindu brethren while welcoming the Hanuman Jayanti processions.

Kota/Bhopal: Amid incidents of communal clashes in parts of the country, Muslims in a locality in Kota, Rajasthan welcomed a Hanuman Jayanti procession by offering sherbet and showering petals. Giving the message of communal harmony, several Muslim youths exhibited their traditional martial art skills when the procession halted in front of a mosque while passing through the Kherabad area of Ramganj Mandi town. The procession started from the Hanuman temple in Kherabad village on Saturday evening and covered around two kilometers, passing through a Muslim-dominated area, with two mosques on its way.

A majority of those who took part in the procession wore saffron clothes. Muslims led by Tahir Ahmad welcomed the procession, showering petals and offering garlands to those taking part in it. They also set up stalls outside the two mosques in the area and offered cold water and sharbat to the devotees. Ramganj Mandi SDM Rajesh Daga said the Muslims came out of the mosques to welcome the procession after offering evening namaz. When asked to join, Muslim youths displayed their martial art skills along with those from the Hindu community, he said. The SDM said the administration had held a meeting with representatives of the Muslim and Hindu communities ahead of the procession. The Muslims enthusiastically welcomed the procession, he said.

In another such example of bonhomie, people from the Muslim community in Bhopal showered flower petals on devotees during the Hanuman Jayanti procession on Saturday. A group of people from the community gathered to welcome the procession and shower flower petals on the people participating in the procession with the idol of Lord Hanuman. Speaking to the media, one of the group members said that they wanted to continue the tradition of brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims in the city. "We are here to welcome the procession. The tradition of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood that our city has will always continue," he said.

Recently, some Muslim youths set an example of communal harmony on the occasion of Ram Navami in Siliguri and distributed water bottles and hugged participants of the Shobha Yatra. The Muslim youths extended Ram Navami greetings to the people taking part in the procession. The people who were part of the procession welcomed the distribution of bottles and thanked the Muslim youths for the gesture.