Puttur, Feb 5: A few Kannada television channels and newspapers in coastal Karnataka have triggered a controversy by terming a local cleric's advice to students as 'Fatwa'. Muslim organizations in Mangalore have dubbed the reports as “ignorant and malicious”
Muhammad Kunhi, a well-known Muslim cleric in Mangalore and manager of Shanti Prakashana speaking to Coastaldigest.com said that media are deliberately trying to tarnish the image of Islam and Muslim society by wrongly using Islamic terminologies for irrelevant matters.
He also said that this is the right time for Muslims to hold a dialogue with media to clear misunderstandigs about 'Fatwa' and discuss about its significance in Muslim society. “We cannot consider an individual cleric or leader's opinion or advice as official 'Fatwa' in the current juncture,” he said
Background
A few television channels and newspapers on Wednesday while reporting an incident of Muslim students refraining from dancing at a particular school, dubbed a local cleric's advice as 'Fatwa'
A cleric of Kodippadi masjid in Puttur had reportedly advised his students not to take part in dance and other cultural activities in the school. As a result, many Muslim students studying in Kodippadi government higher primary school reportedly refused to participate in song, dance and other performances in cultural programmes.
Speaking to Coastaldigest.com, the physical education teacher of the school Stany Praveen Mascarenhas expressed displeasure at these developments. The school organises its annual day and achievement award programme once in an academic year. And on such occasion, students from the Muslim community are left out from cultural activities. This is injustice to the children, as our main aim is to encourage the students and nurture their talent, he said.
Even before, there already were restrictions on higher primary students not to participate in cultural programmes. But this year, it is being imposed even on lower primary children, which is distressing, he said. He said that the school development and monitoring committee (SDMC) had approached the Imam for permission for students to participate in cultural activities, which was denied.
“In the coming days, we will be more pro-active in encouraging the children to come forward inspite of the restriction,” he said.
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