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BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, September 12, 2002: Nearly two dozen Muslim businessmen and their families have been performing Ganesha puja for the last 10 years in Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa. They organize the puja by constructing a huge pandal and installing an idol of Lord Ganesha in keeping with Hindu rituals. “We have formed an organization called the ‘Jawan Matshya Byabasai Sangha Puja Committee’ and all Muslims are its members,” the secretary of the committee, Seikh Mustafa, said. He said the members organize the puja for 20 days, with local Hindu families also contributing. “We immerse the idol in the local Kuakhai River after the conclusion of the puja,” he added. While they perform the puja according to Hindu rites, they also recite a few lines from the Quran daily, and conduct Islamic prayers for about two hours while immersing the idol, Mustafa said. Though this endeavor has failed to draw much publicity locally, the puja organizers are encouraged by the response from other places. “We have received more than 9,000 messages from all over the world supporting our attempt,” said Mustafa. Along these same lines, HPI learned today that one of our correspondents met an Episcopal (Anglican) minister at the Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations at the Ganesha temple in Flushing New York. Asked if he was there as part of an interfaith program, the minister replied that no, he was there because he personally loved Lord Ganesha and wanted to observe His birthday.

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