Setting an example of communal harmony before the nation, people in Agartala on Saturday organised a Raksha Bandhan celebration in the premises of the city's Gedu Mia mosque that brought together college students, boys and girls of Hindu, Muslim and other communities who tied rakhis.
The event was organised by the Students Federation of India (SFI), as part of week-long Raksha Bandhan celebrations in the state.
On the occasion, apart from others, college girls and SFI activists tied Rakhis to the imam, chief clergy and also to those who were present on the premises, chiefly men belonging to the Muslim community.
The idea behind organising the programme was to spread the message of communal harmony - "We should not be divided on the basis of religion, rather it should unite us."
Gita Ghosh, a college student, who participated in the event, said, "With an aim to spread the message of peace and prosperity, we have organised the Raksha Bandhan festival on the Gedu Mia mosque premises today. It is organised by the Tripura unit of SFI, and we believe that Indians consisting of tribals non-tribals and people from various religions should maintain peace and amity."
Nabarun Deb, a state SFI leader, said: "Raksha Bandhan was started by Rabindranath Tagore, who after taking a dip in the Ganges went barefoot to tie Rakhi to the imam of the biggest mosque in Bengal to give a message of religious amity to riot-hit Bengal.
A similar situation has been created in our country again, and we believe that Raksha Bandhan can unite us and play a major role to keep us together. Throughout the nation, a conspiracy is going on to divide us on religious line. And thus, we are organising this festival of unity to bring people of all religions closer."
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Deputy Speaker of the Tripura assembly Pabitra Kar also took part in the celebration.
Mustafa Kamal, a Muslim teacher, who also participated in the celebration, said, "A chain formation is going on in front of the mosque, where people of various religions, tribals and non-tribals came together to convey their greetings, tied Rakhi and took oath to protect each other. We are divided in the name of religion, caste and creed, but Raksha Bandhan is welding us together, which is very important.