Muslim fled Indian riots

By PAIGE SPAWN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

On Feb. 27, rioting broke out between Muslims and Hindus in Gujarat, India, Dr. J.S. Bandukwala's hometown. "I lost my house, my car and had no choice but to flee immediately as they were threatening to kill me," he said.

So the Muslim professor came to Albany to live with his son and daughter-in-law, Nazneen, who is a student at The College of Saint Rose. His daughter will also move here. One reason is that her fiance is Hindu.

"People are calling up her fiance's family, saying not to marry this girl because she is Muslim," said Nazneen. "There have been a couple of deaths because of incidents like these."

Interfaith tension

In a recent address at the Hubbard Interfaith Sanctuary at Saint Rose, Dr. Bandukwala spoke about relations between Hindus and Muslims in India. Hindus account for about 82 percent of the Indian population; about 11 percent are Muslims.

Muslims and Hindus blame each other in part for how their ancestors suffered. In the past several weeks in India, 900 people have died as a result of worsening relations between the two religions.

"We are all human beings first," said Dr. Bandukwala. "Then we are American, Israeli or Palestinian. We are created by the same God; the God that created you also created me."

American experience

He emphasized the importance of the separation of religion from the government. "Fortunately, Americans have this separation very deep inside of them because it goes back to their foundation," he noted.

"Americans are lucky because they do not have a past," he continued. Immigrants "who came here forgot their past. A new life began. They did not look to their past but looked to their future. It is very difficult to manage society when people are constantly looking to the past."

Dr. Bandukwala, a human rights activist and a professor of physics at a university in India, said: "Religions are different pathways to the same God. If I were to say that salvation lies only in the Muslim faith, am I really giving justice to others?"

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