Amidst the stand taken by the Hindu temple administrations in Karnataka not to allow non-Hindu traders to set up shops near temples on religious occasions, a group of Muslim traders met Pejavara Matt seer Shri Vishwaprasanna Teertha Swamiji at Udupi on Wednesday, requesting him to allow them to participate in the Hindu fairs.
According to the reports, the delegation led by non-Hindu traders, especially Muslims, complained to the Hindu seer that the traders who make a living by selling items during such annual fairs face a lot of problems. They pleaded with the Swamiji to allow them to open shops near the temples.
The Muslim traders, joined by Udupi Zilla Sauharda Samithi, led by Abubakar Atrady, met the Swamiji and submitted a plea to allow Muslim and Christian merchants to open shops at the temple fairs and festivals.
Responding to the plea, Shri Vishwaprasanna Teertha Swamiji reportedly acknowledged that peace and harmonious coexistence are very much necessary for a society to have a conducive atmosphere and that no one section of the society can achieve this objective.
“Hindu society has suffered pain and sorrow for a very long. Because of several bitter experiences, the Hindu society is going through agony. This issue cannot be resolved by mutual discussions between a few religious leaders. A lasting solution should be found at the grassroots level. When a section or group continuously faces injustice, its frustration and anger pour out. The frustrated Hindu society has been fed up with injustices. We have to sit on a dais and discuss the causes of this situation. There is the hope of harmony to be established again if no more unsavoury incidents happen in Hindu society. All the cows inside the cattle shed of a widow have been stolen, and the woman has been driven to the streets. Such and several more incidents have caused the pain to get crystallised among Hindus. It is impossible to establish peace and coexistence if we just mouth these words. However, there is no need for any mediation by the third person,” the Swamiji explained.
Shri Vishwaprasanna Teertha Swamiji also noted that the Hijab row has caused the economic boycott of Muslim merchants, and there is a need to address the root cause of the injustice suffered by the Hindus.
“Let the society punish those who have committed wrongs and let them protest against the erring members. Wrong things done by one affect the whole society. If the community does not support those who commit wrongs, the Hindu society does not suffer the pain. Peace cannot be the burden of one community,” he explained to the delegation.
Ever since the Muslim traders forced the Hindu traders to shut shops in protest against the Karnataka High Court’s order banning the wearing of hijab in educational institutions, the Hindu temple administrations have taken a strong exception to the participation of non-Hindus in the annual fairs.
In recent weeks, multiple temple committees in Karnataka had announced that they would not lease shops on their temple premises to non-Hindus after some Muslim shopkeepers had joined the protests against the hijab verdict of the Karnataka High Court and shut down shops in the political call for a strike.
