Encourage Sufi seminaries not Madrassas to curb radicalisation in Kashmir:S.M Sahie
New Delhi:SM Sahai recently delivered a presentation on the understandings of Sufism for Kashmiri youth at the 19th Asian Security Council, New Delhi.In his presentation titled Understanding Sufism to influence extremism in Kashmir, Sahai starts with a specific reference to Zakir and his predecessor Burhan Muzaffar Wani, sharing some rare visuals of their journey from the boys next door to radical militants.As per Sahai’s doctrine, there’s a need to reestablish the Sufi seminaries than Madrassas where parents would prefer to send their children. “The government has basically shied away from a relation between culture and religion. If we treat revival of Sufism as cultural preservation the answer lies in my perspective,” he was quoted as saying.
Stating that the Kashmiri youth has the same aspirations as other youngsters in the nation, he said, “the youth and children need to kept occupied beyond conventional education and sports activities alone”. “One strange thing about Kashmir is that every Kashmiri youth thinks that he is the kind of the guy who should be on the big screen or the small screen. They are on social media, heavily into advertising, and we have many success stories,” he added.
In 2012, Sahai, as the IGP of Kashmir, was among the first to discover the radicalisation of Kashmir youth, a trend that subsequently transpired into a deadly revival of militancy, mainly at the hands of an educated youth.
What is attracting people the most towards the video is Sahai’s research on Islam. Reciting Quran and Hadith, Sahai expresses that indoctrination can be diffused if Islam is propagated with a Sufi perspective.
Sahai continues to be connected to Kashmir. Interestingly, when one of his Muslim bodyguards died a decade ago, Sahai adopted his son, who lives with him much like his own son.
(with inputs from agencies)
