The good news - Karnataka: Belur temple continues tradition of starting festival with Quran recitation / Hindus protected mosque during Ramnavmi procession in Bihar / ‘This is Hindustan’: Hindu woman protected Muslim shopkeepers during riots in Rajasthan
Reading excerpts from the Quran is a tradition but this year, there was a confusion as the temple authorities had initially issued a notice barring Muslim traders from setting up stalls. However, the endowment department took the suggestion of various priests and decided to go ahead with the tradition,” an official from the Endowment department told The Indian Express. According to the tradition, a maulvi reads out excerpts from the Quran to mark the beginning of the celebrations at the Chennakeshava temple. Recently, as the spectre of communal tension loomed large over Karnataka, Right-wing activists had urged the district administration and temple authorities to bar Muslim traders from taking part in the festival. However, the state endowment department had directed the temple administration not to bar any non-Hindu traders and allowed them to set up stalls and participate in the celebrations, according to senior officials of the department. “Accordingly, around 15 Muslim ...