Books That Bridge Gap Between Communities

The book fair is already inducing fair thinking. From curious onlookers to eager students, many Amdavadis are being drawn towards stall no 178, IQ (Islamic Quest), a special stall that aims to clarify misconceptions about Islam. A stall on Gandhi’s and another on life and times of Krishna by ISKCON too attracted quite a good number of persons.

 

Books That Bridge Gap Between Communities

 

The fourth lane at the fair was brimming with visitors as stalls 178 (IQ) and 188 (ISKCON) were diagonally opposite each other. Call it coincidence or co-existence that attracted attention and interest.

Sajid Khan who created and conceptualised IQ said, “Our aim is to clarify misconceptions about Islam and convey that Islam runs parallely with the philosophy of Sanatan Dharma. And many just do not know it. Earlier we had hosted a stall in Surat to eliminate negative thinking among youth and save them from committing suicides.”

For the first time a stall has been set up to remove misunderstandings about Islam that prevails in the country, Khan said. “The response has been tremendous. It is heartening to see that many young students are keen to understand Islam in its true form.”

Ravi Shukla, 21, an engineering student, said, “I always associated terrorism and multiple marriages with Islam till I visited the stall. I believe if many like me understand what Islam stands for, majority of prejudices between Hindus and Muslims can be eliminated.”

On the first day till Tuesday afternoon, the stall had distributed 20 free copies of translated Quran and the number of visitors had touched 1,000. Similarly, stall 178, diagonally opposite IQ, that had books on life and times of Krisha was full of visitors.

Dhaval Pandya, 25, computer engineer, said, “I have procured a translated copy of Shreemad Bhagwat Gita and Quran from these two stalls. And I am eager to understand the core of both these religions which are often seen as opposites.”

Kalanath Chaitanyadas, ISKCON stall manager informed that they had sold many copies of Bhagvat Gita and translation of Vedas. “The interest towards occult, philosophy and spirituality is seen to be rising among young readers,” Chaitanyadas said.

Recommended Posts