Sectarianism amongst Muslims in Gujarat!

The Barelvis don't let Deobandis enter their mosques though both are Sunnis.. And the latter don't tolerate the entry of the former in their mosques.

It happens in many regions in the country but when the reports come from....of all places...Gujarat, it is really shocking. In Saurashtra-Kutch region the Barelvis have put up boards at the entrance of mosques, asking the Deobandis not to step into the mosques.

Syed Khalique Ahmed reports in Indian Express that a Commandant, a judge and a sub-inspector were turned away in separate incidents, from the 'Barelvi' mosques. And one, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Siddiqui, even justifies that why Deobandis can't be allowed to pray in the mosques of Barelvis.

I have personally experienced this Barelvi-Deobandi schism. In the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, as also in Chhattisgarh, there are cities and villages where Muslim localities are clearly divided on these lines.

Though followers of both Barelvi and Deobandi schools are Sunnis, the divide is such that even the dead are not allowed to be buried in the graveyard of the group belonging to the other school. After riots the feeling had seemingly diminished for a while in Gujrat but it's back to square one, again. Ironical indeed.