The Tsunami Strengthened Amity Between Muslims & Hindus in Tamil Nadu    A.H. Jaffor Ullah Tsunami waves are religion blind in the sense that it hardly discriminates the victim based on caste, creed, and religion.  When killer waves were formed in the aftermath of volcanic eruption deep inside the ocean in southern Indian Ocean (at the ground zero of the tremor), the Muslim inhabitants of the northern coast of Sumatra including Banda Aceh suffered a great deal.  The same wave when hit the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka, it pummeled the shoreline killing thousands of Buddhists.  When the pernicious wave hit the island of Pukhet in southwestern Thailand, it killed thousands of tourists, mostly Christians from Europe and America.  When the dangerous wave came to Southern India in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra, thousands of Hindu fishermen had died.  Therefore, it seems as if the killer tsunami hardly chose its victims based on religiosity and ethnicity.   Today (January 4, 2005), I read a spectacular news in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ)�s front page.  The headline read, �In Southern India, the tsunami blurs religious differences.�  How may I escape such a news story?  The subhead read: �Mosque ministers to Hindus, providing food, shelter; aiding refugee camp.�  Mr. Jay Solomon of WSJ reported the news from Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India.    As per the WSJ article, a Muslim cleric, Mohamed Yunoos, had been helping the tsunami victims of a fishing village in the aftermath of December 26, 2004, in the Karamandal coast of Madras.  A Hindu fisherman by the name Arungan hung from the top of a Cashew nut tree for 45 minutes as the wave raged through the shoreline.  After the fury of tsunami subsided, he found a safe haven in a mosque run by Mohamed Yunoos.  Speaking of the Muslims who extended their helping hands, the Hindu fisherman said, �These men are like brothers to me.�  The Muslim cleric made rooms for tsunami victims in a wedding hall, which has been transformed into a makeshift refugee camp.  What a way to show the spirit of humanism!   The coast of Madras that was hit by killer tsunami is inhabited mostly by low caste Hindus who make a living by fishing the coastal waters.  In the aftermath of tsunami, many dead bodies lay scattered near the beaches but untouched by any upper caste Hindus living nearby for the fear that the dead bodies may belong to low caste Hindus.  However, the Muslims from the area helped remove the decaying bodies so that final rites can be done.  A Tamil research scientist and a colleague of mine told me this piece of news.   The WSJ article mentioned that Mr. Yunoos and his Muslim welfare organization, the United Islamic Jamaah, had offered their help to tsunami victim.  We all should laud this effort by the Tamil Muslims.  India had been plagued with sectarian feuds since early 1990s because of the controversy surrounding the Babri Mosque fiasco in Ayodha, Uttar Pradesh.  In 2002, the Hindu fanatics in Gujarat incited a riot in which thousands of Muslims were butchered.  In the same year, both India and Pakistan flirted with a nuclear war over Kashmir, which both the sides claim to be their own since the great partition of 1947.    I learned from the WSJ article that the village of Parangipettai, which is home to Mohamed Yunoos�s mosque, is perched on a small hill above the Bay of Bengal.  That is the reason the mosque was spared the wrath and fury of the killer tsunami.  The mosque grew over the years because of the patronage from some of the village folks who live in Saudi Arabia and Gulf states to make a living.  The local Muslims are devoutly religious who live in the secluded hilltop far away from Hindu villages that dot Cuddalore district of coastal Tamil Nadu.  According to the news, the brunt of the tsunami was borne by the Hindu villagers of Cuddalore district.  Because of the hilltop location of Parangipettai, the Muslims were spared from the wrath of the killer waves.    As per the news, immediately after tsunami, the 500 members of Mohamed Yunoos�s mosque decided to assume a key role in post tsunami rehabilitation work in Cuddalore district.  The local Hindus and politicians of the nearby district confirmed this piece of news.  One of the Muslims from Parangipettai was riding his motorcycle near the shoreline when the big waves were coming.  He alerted the local fisherman to come to shore and then he biked quickly to the hilltop village of Parangipettai to organize a relief work to assuage the pain of those unfortunate people living by the shoreline.  Many Muslims took their motorbikes to the shore when tsunami-led waves had subsided and they brought injured fisherman and their family members to a community center by the name �Mahmoodhia Shadi Mahal� (Mohammedan Wedding Palace).  The victims, all Hindus, were housed, clothed, and fed by the local Muslims. One Hindu elder said that the local Muslims acted like as if they are gods.  Mr. Yunoos�s mosque has spread the word for help to other Muslim communities elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East. The mosque in Parangipettai is preparing meal for 10,000 destitute people each day.   As per the WSJ report, local television stations in Madras have lauded Yunoos�s group for engendering new hope for Hindu-Muslim amity in India after the terrible tragedy of Gujarat riot.  The news of this new humanitarian effort went all the way up to New Delhi from where the finance minister, Mr. Chidambaram, came to witness the benevolent work done by the Muslims of Parangipettai.  In the meantime, more volunteers from Mr. Yunoos�s mosque have fanned out to villages dotting the shoreline with trucks carrying hot meals for Hindus who could not make it to the hilltop mosque.  One such villages is Samiyarpettai where the local Hindus stood in front of a Hindu temple with statue of Durga, who according to legend is supposed to protect the villagers from disasters and whatnot.  The local Hindus those who were affected by the tsunami are philosophical about the natural disaster.  As per the WSJ report, someone said, �We are all fishermen here.  Religion comes second.�   This scribe was moved immensely by the comment of a mortal from Samiyarpettai.  What a profound statement!  Certain seashores of Southern Asia took a beating on December 26, 2004 by tsunami engendered by a 9.0 or more Richter scale earthquake near Banda Aceh, Indonesia.  However, the show of humanity by a small Muslim community in Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India, caught my attention.  The low caste Hindus in affected area near Parangipettai did not mind receiving aid from their Muslim brothers and sisters.  The eye-opener was the refusal by the upper caste Hindu to perform the �Sat-kar� or last rite of the dead, which the Muslims did on humanitarian ground alone. The best of humanity shows up at the time of distress.  Let us dwell on this show of humanity by a small community of Muslims in an obscure part of coastal Tamil Nadu, India.  This ought to be an eye opener for many people in South Asia who look at our world through an artificial lens.  Deep down, we all are human being with flesh and blood and emotion.  As the fisherman from Samiyarpettai, Tamil Nadu, India said, �We all are fisherman here.  Religion comes second.� --------------------------- A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA   More on Tsunami: From Mukto-Mona Moderator's desk: Words of grievance for Tsunami victims When Elephants Excel the Arabs.....  Jahed Ahmed Salute to our Peoples' Hero   Soumitra Bose More...