Gujarat governor OP Kohli calls for unity between Hindus and Muslims

Jaipur: Admiring poet-saints of Bhakti movement for their rationality, Gujarat Governor O P Kohli today said these saints strongly hit out at the hypocrisy of Hindus as well as Muslims and felt the need for unity between the two religions which is also a necessity today. Kohli, who was addressing a national seminar on the works of poet-saints at Rajasthan University in Jaipur, said Kabir and other saints in medieval era were very rational and had beliefs based on what they saw instead of what they read. “Saints were very rational and wanted a rational society, therefore they could slam the hypocrisy prevailing in the society at that time. Despite the fact that Muslims were the rulers, they hit out at their hypocrisy and they could dare to do that because they had questioned the hypocrisy of Hindus as well,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_2523974” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  YouTube Screengrab[/caption] “It was a daring act and the saints were brave enough to do that. They felt the need for Hindu-Muslim unity that time and it is also needed today,” he said. Besides, Kohli said, the saints were straight forward in expressing their thoughts and views. “They frankly expressed their thoughts…What they said assume significance even today. Things like social harmony, ethical values which the saints had spoken about were later stressed by Swami Vivekanand, Mahatma Gandhi and others,” he said. He recited verses of poetry by saints like Dadu Dayal and explained their meaning and importance in the present context. After the function was over, Kohli told reporters that there was no place for artificiality and sophistication in the life values given by saints. “…but now several artificial things are happening,” Kohli said referring to the returning of awards by writers and film-makers over the intolerance issue. PTI