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Journalism of Courage
Facing an angry Muslim chorus once again, the Samajwadi Party today said it would drop its advertisement drawing a parallel between Mulayam Singh Yadav and the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, Imam Hussain.
The advertisement, released by the party and published in three Urdu newspapers beginning April 17, has the community fuming. Featuring the photos of four ‘‘Muslim faces,’’ the text reads: ‘‘Jo quam chaudah sau saal purane Karbala ke wakiye ko nahin bhool sakti, woh Mulayam Singh Yadav ki kurbanion ko kaise bhoola payegi (How can the community, which cannot forget the sacrifice made in Karbala 1400 years ago, forget the sacrifices made by Mulayam Singh Yadav?)’’.
It was in Karbala that Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet, fought a battle against an entire army to protect the values of Islam with just a handful of soldiers. All of them were killed—this is mourned during Muharram, the start of the Islamic calendar.
While state SP chief Ram Sharan Das said he wasn’t aware of the ads, T S Mehta, press secretary to Mulayam Singh Yadav told The Indian Express: ‘‘He (Mulayam) told me that the ads were being withdrawn. These might have been issued by someone in the party without knowing the implications.’’
Over a dozen Shia organisations decided to lodge a defamation suit against the party while a delegation said it would meet Chief Election Commissioner to lodge a complaint against the SP ‘‘which has humiliated Islam.’’
The Shia National Trust, a prominent body representing the cause of the Shias, has also written a letter to the Chief Minister, seeking an apology which ‘‘has hurt the sentiments of the members of our community’’.
‘‘This (the ad) is simply an attempt on the part of the SP to project Mulayam as the messiah of Muslims,’’ Yaqub Abbas, chairman of the trust, told The Indian Express.
Among the other groups which have opposed the move are the All India Shia Youth Front, Shia Hussani Front and All India Shia Conference.
‘‘How can the SP compare the Imam’s sacrifice to that of Mulayam Singh Yadav just to get votes of the minority community? The CM should tender an apology immediately,’’ said noted Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad. The BJP, ready to cash in on this, has also faxed a letter to the Election Commission alleging that through the controversial ad, the Samajwadi Party was trying to play with the religious sentiments of the people.
Incidentally, this is the second time, the SP has scored a self-goal on the issue of Muslim support. It had announced a half-day on Friday in all government schools and then had to withdraw the order following an outraged community saying that what they needed was ‘‘education, not sops.’’
