Religious leaders leave stage over Islamic body chief's "Om-Allah" remark
New Delhi, Feb 12: Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani on Sunday stoked controversy at the prominent Muslim body's general session by claiming that "Om" and "Allah" were the same God worshipped by 'Manu', drawing objections from a prominent Jain monk who stormed off the stage along with a group of other religious leaders.
Speaking on the third and final day of the 34th general session of the Jamiat at the Ramlila Maidan here, the Muslim cleric, who heads the Arshad Madani faction of the outfit, said he asked the "dharma gurus" as to who was worshipped when there was no Shri Ram, Brahma or Shiva.
"Some say Manu worshipped Shiva. Very few have pointed out that there was nothing in the world and Manu worshipped Om.
"I asked who is Om, many said 'it is just air, it has no form, it has no colour and it is everywhere, it made the sky and land'. I said this is what we call Allah, you call Ishwar, those speaking Persian call Khuda and those speaking English call God," Madani said.
"This means that Manu, that is Adam, used to worship one Om, that is one Allah," he said.
Manu is a term found in religious texts, referring to the first man or the progenitor of humanity.
Arshad Madani's remarks were strongly disapproved by Jain monk Acharya Lokesh Muni who walked out of the session, accusing Madani of digressing from talking about unity to spinning a story about "Manu and Allah".
"We only agree with living in harmony, but all these stories regarding Om, Allah, and Manu are all baseless. He (Madani) completely spoiled the environment of the session," Muni said.
"The stories he narrated, I can narrate even bigger stories than that. I would even request him (Madani) to come for a discussion with me, or even I can come to meet him in Saharanpur," he said.
"It should be remembered that the first Jain Tirthankar was Rishabh, and his sons were Bharata and Bahubali, on whose name this country 'Bharat' was named . We don't agree with his (Madani's) statements," the Jain monk asserted, before leaving the stage along with a group of leaders of other religions.
Religious leaders of several religions are often invited to the programmes and sessions of the Jamiat. Acharya Lokesh Muni has been part of several Jamiat-organised programmes in the past as well.
On Friday, Mahmood Madani, who heads the other faction of the Jamiat, triggered a row by claiming that India is the "birthplace of Islam" and the oldest religion of the country. He had asserted that the country belongs to him as much as it does to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Mahmood Madani had said it is wrong to suggest that Islam came from outside and claimed that the "first Prophet of Islam Adam descended here".
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
