News Analysis India

Tag: Ganesha idol

  • UP BJP Muslim leader faces fatwa for installing Ganesh idol at her house  

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Deoband Mufti Arshad Farooqui has issued a fatwa against BJP leader Ruby Asif Khan from Aligarh for worshipping and installing the idol of Lord Ganesha in her house this Ganesh Chaturthi. The Mufti claimed that Ruby Asifa’s conduct was unIslamic. She is the Mandal Vice-President of BJP’s Mahila Morchain Aligarh.

    Setting an example of religious amity, Ruby Asifa Khan installed the idol in her house and performed the Puja of Lord Ganesha drawing the attention of Islamic clerics. Deoband’s Mufti Arshad Farooqui said that Lord Ganesha was highly revered by Hindus and he was known to bring happiness and prosperity withknowledge, but in Islam, idol worship was not allowed.

    “In Islam, no one is worshipped except Allah. Those who are doing this are against Islam. Those who worship an idol, the same decree is issued against them which is issued for those who go against Islam,” said the Mufti.

    However, responding to the fatwa, Ruby Khan refused to budge blaming people like the Deoband Mufti for spreading discord in the society. Ruby Khan claimed that such clerics and muftis were not true Muslims and they just indulged in the division of society on religious lines. Ruby said that she had faced many such fatwas in the past as well and that she did not care about the fatwa.

    Ruby further said that such Muftis and Maulana were of extremist mindset and they did not care about Hindustan while staying in India and if he was a true Muslim, he would not have talked like this. Ruby said that she had always been celebrating Hindu festivals and would continue to do so. According to Ruby, the cleric even got posters put up against her in the past but she only wanted to maintain Hindu-Muslim unity.

    ALSO READ | Karnataka: Muslim cop in Hubballi leads Ganesha idol installation at police station, get praises

    Ruby Asif Khan, a resident of ADA colony under the Rorawar police circle, has set up a Ganesha idol at her home for seven days and set it up with all rituals. “We will keep the idol for seven days before immersing it in water on September 6. I and my family do puja every day as per rituals and offer ‘modaks’ to the Lord,” Ruby said.

    LUCKNOW: Deoband Mufti Arshad Farooqui has issued a fatwa against BJP leader Ruby Asif Khan from Aligarh for worshipping and installing the idol of Lord Ganesha in her house this Ganesh Chaturthi. The Mufti claimed that Ruby Asifa’s conduct was unIslamic. She is the Mandal Vice-President of BJP’s Mahila Morchain Aligarh.

    Setting an example of religious amity, Ruby Asifa Khan installed the idol in her house and performed the Puja of Lord Ganesha drawing the attention of Islamic clerics. Deoband’s Mufti Arshad Farooqui said that Lord Ganesha was highly revered by Hindus and he was known to bring happiness and prosperity with
    knowledge, but in Islam, idol worship was not allowed.

    “In Islam, no one is worshipped except Allah. Those who are doing this are against Islam. Those who worship an idol, the same decree is issued against them which is issued for those who go against Islam,” said the Mufti.

    However, responding to the fatwa, Ruby Khan refused to budge blaming people like the Deoband Mufti for spreading discord in the society. Ruby Khan claimed that such clerics and muftis were not true Muslims and they just indulged in the division of society on religious lines. Ruby said that she had faced many such fatwas in the past as well and that she did not care about the fatwa.

    Ruby further said that such Muftis and Maulana were of extremist mindset and they did not care about Hindustan while staying in India and if he was a true Muslim, he would not have talked like this. Ruby said that she had always been celebrating Hindu festivals and would continue to do so. According to Ruby, the cleric even got posters put up against her in the past but she only wanted to maintain Hindu-Muslim unity.

    ALSO READ | Karnataka: Muslim cop in Hubballi leads Ganesha idol installation at police station, get praises

    Ruby Asif Khan, a resident of ADA colony under the Rorawar police circle, has set up a Ganesha idol at her home for seven days and set it up with all rituals. “We will keep the idol for seven days before immersing it in water on September 6. I and my family do puja every day as per rituals and offer ‘modaks’ to the Lord,” Ruby said.

  • Assam man shares photo with foot on ancient Ganesha idol, arrested

    By PTI

    NAGAON: A man was arrested in Assam’s Nagaon district for sharing on social media a photograph of him placing a foot on the head of an ancient idol of Lord Ganesha, police said on Saturday.

    The man, who hails from Kacha village in Kachua police station, was arrested on Friday based on an FIR lodged by the committee of the temple located at Tengalangso village along the boundary of Nagaon and West Karbi Anglong districts, an officer said.

    He was seen placing his foot with shoes on the head of the idol located at the historic Arlong Kund stream.

    The temple committee noticed the image after a furore among netizens and lodged the police complaint, he said, adding further investigation was underway.

  • Chemistry lab-made ‘alum Ganesha’ creates eco-friendly ripples

    By PTI

    SATNA:Students of a government school in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh have prepared eco-friendly Ganesha idols in their chemistry lab from potash alum, a water purifying chemical compound, to spread the message of “science for environment”.

    The group of eight students from the Venkat Higher Secondary Excellence School No 1 struck on the idea last week during their class with their chemistry teacher Dr Ramanuj Pathak.

    The idols, about 1.5 ft tall, were moulded and prepared on Ganesh Chaturthi day on September 10.

    “We were discussing in the class about how idols, statues made of plaster of paris and paint pollute the environment and damage the ecosystem after immersion.

    It was then that we decided to put science into action and hence the idea to create eco-friendly Ganesha idols of alum in our chemistry laboratory came about,” Pathak told PTI.

    Pottasium alum or simply called alum is a water purifier and a double-salt chemical compound which not only purifies water but also leaves no harmful residue.

    Alum also has antiseptic properties and multiple medicinal uses, he said.

    “When we immerse idols made of alum into water bodies they are not polluted but instead cleansed,” Pathak said.

    Those made from plaster of paris are hard and insoluble in water as they have calcium sulphate and end up polluting and choking the water body.

    Even idols made of clay are adorned with wood, varnish, paint, fodder, paper and other items which are not eco-friendly and dirty the water, he said.

    The students have now installed the idol created by them in the chemistry lab and plan to immerse it on the Ganesha ‘visarjan’ day.

    “We started the experiment with first heating the alum on the gas burner in the lab and melting it in glass beakers. It was later cooled and put in a cast made of wet flour,” Pranshu Gautam, a student, said.

    The teachers at the school informed that potash alum melts at 92 degrees Celsius and starts boiling around 120 degrees Celsius.

    It is then allowed to cool for about 30 minutes after which liquid alum is put in a cast made in the shape of Ganesha.

    Pathak said alum can be purchased from the market at around Rs 40 per kilogram and one such idol of 1.5-2 ft height can be made for just Rs 3.

    The crystalline idol looks nice even without using paint or colours, however, organic colours can be used to beautify it, he said.

    Pathak said he and his students are looking to take this experiment further and prepare Durga idols during the upcoming Durga Puja/Dussehra festivities “so that the message reaches more people and everyone can come together in the initiative to celebrate our festivals with care for the environment.”

    Once successful, such idols of Ganesha and Durga can be made on a commercial scale too, he said.