In Bengaluru, donating blood to counter hate

A recent blood donation camp at Masjid-e-Mamoor, Koramangala, where over 500 men and women from various communities gathered and donated blood, was poignant, especially amidst rising religious polarisation

Amidst rising religious polarisation, a recent blood donation camp at Masjid-e-Mamoor, Koramangala, where over 500 men and women from various communities gathered and donated blood, had a poignant resonance. The success of the initiative has spurred the mosque committee to expand it to 100 mosques, under the banner ‘Blood Flood’ across the city.

“The events in the State for the past several months are only poisoning the minds of people, especially the youth, trying to pitch one community against the other, harping on the differences, and trying to demonise us. The blood donation camp is a very good way to tell people that all of us are the same, with the same blood flowing in our body,” said Mohammed Rehan Nawab, president, Masjid-e-Mamoor Committee.

“Encouraged by the response, we are now expanding the initiative to 100 mosques across the city,” he said.

As hundreds from other communities and nursing college students walked into the mosque to donate blood, the event turned into a rare platform of cultural exchange too. As many as 100 women also came to the mosque and donated blood.

“There has been a consistent vilification campaign by vested interests on social media and even sections of mainstream media against mosques and madrassas, branding them centres of anti-social and anti-national activities. These blood donation camps will be an opportunity to debunk this narrative. We want people from all communities to walk into our mosques and see for themselves and that is one of the reasons why the initiative has been expanded to a hundred mosques,” said a member of the Masjid-e-Mamoor Committee.