Maha Kumbh: Cleric fears mass conversions; others flag seers' 'demand' to bar Muslims

Lucknow, PTI: Ahead of the Maha Kumbh, a senior cleric has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressing fears that mass conversions of Muslims will take place during the event, while other community leaders have flagged the alleged demand raised by some Hindu seers' body to keep Muslims out of the mega gathering. Last year, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP) had allegedly given a call to procure goods for the Maha Kumbh exclusively from Hindu shopkeepers to ensure that purchases were made solely from the true followers of Sanatan Dharma.

Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh will be organised in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26. All India Muslim Jamaat president Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, who was in the spotlight recently for advising Muslims not to visit the Maha Kumbh, urged Adityanath on Friday to "thwart plans" to convert hundreds of Muslims during the event. Speaking to PTI, Barelvi claimed he received information from reliable sources about plans to convert Muslims during the Kumbh, and as a concerned citizen, he informed the chief Minister about his apprehension. "Now it is the responsibility of the state government to act on this," he said. However, Barelvi, who earlier termed the alleged demand to bar Muslims from visiting the Kumbh "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional", put forward a different view on the matter in his letter to the chief minister. "The Akhara Parishad and Naga seers held a meeting in November last year, where they talked about banning Muslims from setting up shops at the fair premises.

That is why I have advised Muslims not to go to Maha Kumbh to avoid any trouble," he said. Maulana Kaab Rashidi, legal advisor to the Uttar Pradesh unit of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, said perhaps this is the first time that Muslims are at the centre of discussions before the biggest religious gathering of Hindus. On the alleged demand to keep Muslims away from the event, Rashidi said, "Such calls violate the rights enshrined in the Constitution because India is known all over the world as a secular country. So, talking about banning Muslims from Maha Kumbh is like crushing the soul of the Constitution." "If a festival or a gathering like the Maha Kumbh is seen through the prism of religion, the country will move on the wrong path.

Muslims are an integral part of the country. How can they be kept away from the world's largest gathering of faith," Rashidi asked. Maulana Yasoob Abbas, general secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, said, "If a Muslim goes to Maha Kumbh to increase his knowledge, what's the harm in it? Islam is not so weak that a person of the faith will be in danger just by attending a fair or by visiting a place of worship." On Barelvi's apprehension of conversions, Abbas said, "If the foundation of someone's faith is strong, no one can convert him." Taking a dig at Barelvi, Mohsin Raza, chairman of Uttar Pradesh Haj Committee and a former minister of state for minority welfare, said, "You must have heard RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Ji's statement that some people want to become leaders by creating controversies. Such people are found everywhere. If there are four brothers, their temperament will differ."