Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,

New Delhi, Sept 6: Buoyant at the huge success of its recent nationwide Peace And Humanity campaign, India's largest socio-religious organization Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has decided to float a multi-religious front in order to counter the growing politically-motivated communal polarisation in the country.

Making announcement about the front Dharmik Morcha at a press conference here on Tuesday, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, national president of Jamaat said the front will have religious leaders from different communities including Hindus and Muslims.

"Apart from the Sadbhavana Manch which Jamaat is establishing in all of its 1200 units spreading across the country, we have decided to set up a Dharmik Morcha also. This front will have leaders from all prominent religions like Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Jains," announced Maulana Umari during the monthly press conference at Jamaat's headquarters.

The Dharmik Morcha is likely to be set up at both state and local levels. Whenever any communal clash or violence erupts, the front will be pressed into action to protect peace and communal harmony.

While Sadbhavana Manch will have eminent persons including social and human rights activists of the locality, the Dharmik Morcha will have only religious figures. 

Jamaat leaders (L-R): Mohammad Salim Engineer, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Nusrat Ali, Mohammad Ahmed

Maulana Umari informed the press about the purpose of the recently-held Peace And Humanity Campaign (21 Aug - 4 Sept).

"The objective of the campaign was to reach out to the people of the country and remind them of the importance of nurturing the social fabric of our country and preserving its communal harmony which is under threat by some communal and anti-social elements," said Maulana Umari.

Giving details about the success of the campaign, Mohammad Salim Engineer, Secretary General of Jamaat said that about 25 lakh people were directly reached through more than 10,000 public events including conferences, press briefing and corner meetings across the country. Through the social media platforms of Jamaat, around 15 crore people were reached, he said.  

 L-R (Front Row): An official of Gayatri Pariwar, Shafi Madani Sheth, ex-Gujarat president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Mohammad Jafar (speaking) at Gayatri Pariwar centre in Vadodara, Gujarat on 22 Aug 2016.

He also said that during the campaign itself, 170 units of Sadbhavana Manch were set up in Telangana state alone.

For several public events during the campaign, Jamaat's local leaders had set up reception committees. These committees had eminent local persons from different religious communities.

Moreover, as many as 135 people, mostly Hindus, were honoured with communal harmony awards by the Jamaat for their remarkable contribution in establishing peace and communal harmony in the country.

At the national level, four eminent social and peace activists namely, Ram Puniyani, Sandeep Pandey, JS Bandukwala and Jugal Kishore Shastri were conferred the communal harmony award at an event at India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi on 20 August.

Also Read: Bridging Divide: Muslims visit Hindu religious centre; Both vow to work for peace

Also Read: Muslim body honours Ram Puniyani, Sandeep Pandey and an Ayodhya priest with Sadbhavana Award