Eid-ul-Adha at Bhopal 2014: A Reflection

By Syed Rizvi, New Age Islam

31 August 2017

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Just 3 years ago, 2014, at this time of the Muslim month of the Eid ul Adha, when Muslims all over the world mercilessly slaughter 100s of millions of gentle animals by slitting their throats over a period of three days while animal being fully conscious as prescribed by the Islamic law of Sharia to please their God, three women from an animal rights organization PeTA-India were going to set up a table outside one of India’s largest mosques at an India’s major city of Bhopal. These women were carrying signs “Happy Eid” please try vegan dish and had vegan recipe to hand out.

 One of these women was a Muslim girl dressed in Muslim outfit made of vegetable and leaves. No sign they carried said anything like stop animal slaughter as reported by some news media. But before these women got theirs table set at a spot for which they had gotten the permission from the authorities, a mob (estimated to be 8,000) armed with sticks and knives attacked these three women shouting Allah u Akbar, They carried well design and previously prepared signs implying these girls' action was a anti Islam. Sadly enough one of the three women while running away from the scene got left behind but had it not been for the brave police officers who protected this lady I can imagine her fate would not have been any different from Mashal Khan’s whose body was literally crushed at the premises of a Pakistani University campus for saying something on the Face Book that could qualify as blasphemy.

The question why the Muslims did not ask PeTA not to bring their signs and set up the table unless it was the intention of the Muslim crowd to show their anger through violence, I am sure PeTA wouldn’t have sent its volunteers in harm’s way. I myself being a founding member of PeTA have never seen PeTA getting involved in any violent confrontation with any group or individual. All PeTA demonstration and protests have been nonviolent keeping up with the teachings of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. I have posted only one video here showing the intensity and the confrontational strength of the opposition. There are many more on the You Tube and Google that can be easily found there.

Obviously what we see here is not something that could have emerged sporadically; it in fact was a well thought out and pre planned event. Also the Muslim crowd did not look like the turbaned rugged Talibans from Afghanistan Mountain, or the vicious Isis terrorists from the Iraqi deserts which our so called main stream moderate Muslims take no time in distancing themselves from. The crowd we see is the just every day main stream Muslims we meet them at our work place or markets, or in our homes. This could happen in Pakistan as well, although unlike the India scene, no Pakistani police officer could have stepped in to protect the lady while putting his own life in harm’s way.

It is not a surprise that no Muslim leader or clergy condemned this action of the Muslims but it is deplorable that no lefts, liberals, or secularist said a word against this despicable behaviour of the main stream India’s Muslims.

Syed Rizvi is a Physicist and Founder/President of Engineers and Scientists for Animal Rights. He is a vegan and writes on ethical issues that relate Humans, Animals, and the Environment.  Syed lives with his two cats Navaz and Tiger in his two-bedroom house in the heart of the Silicon Valley, California, USA.

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/eid-ul-adha-bhopal-2014/d/112397

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