Some people creating conflict in name of religion, ideology, says NSA Doval

NEW DELHI: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Saturday warned that some elements in the country were trying to create negativity, animosity and conflict in the name of religion and ideology, hampering national progress in the process.
He appealed to leaders belonging to various faiths to raise their voice against such forces and use their role as influencers to remove any misunderstandings among people and get them to work unitedly to make India a robust nation.
Doval’s comments, made at inter-faith conference for communal harmony organised by the All-India Sufi Sajjada Nasheen Council (AISSC) here, came even as the prominent leaders belonging to different religions passed a resolution at the meet calling for a ban on “organisations like Popular Front of India (PFI)”.
PFI, a radical, pan-India Islamic outfit, is being linked to recent murder of two persons in Amravati and Udaipur, allegedly after the victims’ spoke in favour of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, on social media.
Doval, while addressing the inter-faith meeting, said: “All communities and citizens have benefited from how India has progressed in the past few years. But some forces are creating an atmosphere of negativity, hampering national progress."
He said that it was every citizens’ responsibility to counter such efforts by “a very minuscule section” by speaking up against them, working unitedly to remove any misunderstandings and reassuring all communities that they are an integral part of India that has always allowed its citizens to freely practice their respective faiths.
The NSA said that while the “minuscule section” was making a loud noise to amplify their negative campaign, the majority who do not share their views tend to play mute spectators. Calling upon the religious leaders, who have “both noble intentions and capacity” to counter the negative campaign and recounting the rich Sufi tradition that has thrived most in India, Doval asked them to speak up and let their views in favour of assimilation of all faiths and patriotism, be heard.
“We need to come together to counter the misconceptions and make every citizen feel a sense of belonging to the nation and be reassured that he can freely practice his faith…we need to fight negativity not really for us but our future generations." he said.
Stating the world ‘jihad’ in the political sense was used first by Indian Muslims in 1915 when six Indian ulemas formed a provisional government in Afghanistan, the NSA said jihad then meant struggle against wrongs, injustice and foreign rule.
“Jihad did not then mean fight against a particular community,” he said adding that India needs to sustain its identity as a free-thinking nation, both socially and culturally.
AISSC, which organised the inter-fatih meet, is an Islamic, social and cultural organisation that claims to “serve humanity and spread the blessed teaching of the Prophet”.
The council works under the patronage of Hazrath Deewan Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, hereditary sajjadanasheen of Dargah Hazarath Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz and under Hazrath Syed Naseeruddin Chishty, head of AlSSC and Janasheen Deewan Sahab Dargah Ajmer Shareef.