There is something : कुछ बात है जो हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी !

There is something : कुछ बात है जो हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी !(Rajbir Deswal wrote this for The Tribune sometime back!)
News has reached us from Sonepat and Karnal in Haryana that Muslims will not offer sacrifice (Qurbani) on the occasion of Id this year since Mahavir Jayanti falls on the same day. Now I understand what the famous poet Iqbal had in his mind when he said, “Kuchh baat hai jo hasti mit-ti nahin hamari...”.
Iqbal perhaps hinted at this tolerance and Mahatma Gandhi perhaps had only such feelings when he propounded the “Sarva Dharma Sambhav” theory and left no stone unturned in practising the concept, much to the annoyance of some of his own ardent followers but in the larger interest of natinalism, Indianness and, above all, brotherhood of mankind.
I remember a very touching number in a movie, “Dhool ka phool”, rendered soulfully by Mohammad Rafi, “Tu Hindu banega na Musalman banega; Insaan ki aulad hai insaan banega” and further in the song were the finest expressions of amity and respect for each other’s religion—“Qur-aan na jisme ho wo mandir nahin tera; Geeta na ho jisme wo harem tera nahin hai”.
Only a couple of years back people of both communities celebrated Id and Ram Navami in Hazariabagh together by joining felicitations collectively and by exchanging gifts, sweets and greetings. Such signals should not be allowed to go unnoticed by the media for they act as balmy material on the wounding stories of communal violence.
I remember a scene at Moscow airport when I and my wife were waiting for breakfast to be served to us. Sitting next to us were two correspondents of a daily of Pakistan, Nawai-Waqt, as we could gather from their conversation. We did not know that beef slices were served to us with black, milk-less coffee. When one of the two gentlemen picked up one slice and announced that it was beef, we removed the paper-plates from our table.
The other one noticed this. When he was asked by his friend to go ahead with his beefy-helping, he looked at us, smiled and said, “No, thanks, you please carry on!” He might not even be knowing us yet he thought it proper to respect our sentiments. Our reciprocal smile to him confirmed millions and millions of spiritual bondages tolerant human beings can boast of.
It is high time people had shown the vested interests the door. I am reminded of a beautiful couplet by the noted poet Bashir Badr: Dushmani ka safar ek din, do din; Tum bhee thak jaoge, hum bhee thak jaayege.
Id Mubarak and Jaya Jainendra!