RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA

Se­nior Mul­ti­me­dia Re­porter

rad­hi­ca.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

Maulana Atif Ma­jeed Su­laimani has urged cit­i­zens not to al­low pol­i­tics and elec­tions to cre­ate di­vi­sion among them.

Speak­ing about the up­com­ing gen­er­al elec­tions dur­ing Eid cel­e­bra­tions at the San Fer­nan­do Ja­ma Masjid at Mu­cu­rapo Street, San Fer­nan­do on Mon­day, Su­laimani said no­body should be ridiculed or giv­en nick­names be­cause of their po­lit­i­cal pref­er­ence.

Prime Min­is­ter Stu­art Young and Agri­cul­ture Min­is­ter Kaz­im Ho­sein at­tend­ed the cel­e­bra­tions.

Su­laimani told the Ja­maat that no­body should be de­prived of their de­mo­c­ra­t­ic right.

“Gen­er­al elec­tions are ap­proach­ing, and it is nat­ur­al for peo­ple to have dif­fer­ent po­lit­i­cal opin­ions, and it is your right,” he said.

He em­pha­sized that no one should be de­prived of their de­mo­c­ra­t­ic right to sup­port their pre­ferred can­di­date or par­ty.

“No­body has the right to de­prive you. You want to sup­port—it is your de­mo­c­ra­t­ic right. This is beau­ti­ful. Nev­er al­low po­lit­i­cal dif­fer­ences to cre­ate ha­tred and di­vi­sion among us,” he said.

He urged peo­ple to re­spect dif­fer­ing views. “You sup­port who­ev­er you want to sup­port. Don’t force your opin­ion on oth­ers—it will cause di­vi­sion be­tween you and fam­i­ly. Re­spect each oth­er even when you dis­agree with you. Still re­spect and do not in­sult or mock one an­oth­er.”

Ad­dress­ing the is­sue of po­lit­i­cal dis­course, he said, “Let not peo­ple ridicule an­oth­er. Make you feel you are bet­ter. You do not be­lit­tle. Any­where else. No right to ridicule or mock any­body. In the eyes of Al­lah, do not call each oth­er by nick­names.”

He called for uni­ty and mu­tu­al un­der­stand­ing. “We go on the low­est of the low. Let us all help shar­ing of opin­ions and thoughts on ba­sis of re­spect, har­mo­ny, and love,” he said.

Su­laimani re­mind­ed peo­ple of the tem­po­rary na­ture of elec­tions com­pared to life­long re­la­tion­ships.

“Re­mem­ber, elec­tions come and go, but the peo­ple you spend time with, they are the peo­ple you spend your life with. Don’t let po­lit­i­cal dif­fer­ences di­vide us. Nev­er al­low these triv­ial mat­ters to break our life­long re­la­tion­ship or break fam­i­ly ties,” he said.

He urged the pub­lic to seek wis­dom and fair­ness.

“Ask Al­lah to grant us wis­dom and fair­ness. You have the right to sup­port. Use your mind, in­tel­lect, knowl­edge, and ask Al­lah to pro­tect us from di­vi­sion and ha­tred,” he said.

Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad- Bisses­sar has al­so been in­vit­ed to par­tic­i­pate in Eid cel­e­bra­tions at the San Fer­nan­do Masjid lat­er to­day.