Mirwaiz Umar stresses need for Shia-Sunni unity

Srinagar, July 22 (IANS) Senior separatist and religious leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said on Monday that nobody should incite sectarian passions in Kashmir as that would ultimately be detrimental to the Muslims as a community. Addressing a media conference after he met scholars of Shia and Sunni schools of thought at his uptown Nigeen residence here, the Mirwaiz said: “There is no doubt that there are differences of opinion among the scholars and followers of different schools of thought among Muslims, but it is the duty of every preacher and scholar of Islam that our stress should be on unity and not on sowing discord among the Muslims since that is against the universal message of brotherhood carried by Islam.””We have decided that whenever there are differences of opinion among the different schools of thought, we will all meet and try to sort out those differences amicably,” he added.His comments came in the wake of some inflammatory comments by some scholars of the Sunnis and the Shias for the last few days.The Mirwaiz also said that social media plays a crucial role in society and as such those using it need to realise the huge responsibilities they have while posting a video or a comment.–IANSsq/vd