Keep religion private, say friends from different faiths working for a cause amid Hijab row

MANGALURU: Childhood friends Ananth Prabhu G and Azzfar Razack believe that religion is a private affair and must be kept within the walls of the house.
Ananth is a cyber security expert and Azzfar runs an online portal and conducts an English speaking course. In the last eight years, they have taken up several social causes through “We Are United Trust.” On the recent developments regarding the snowballing hijab row in Karnataka, Ananth said: “It is shocking that when students must focus on academics, jobs and on being responsible citizens, they are being misled and a hostile environment is created in educational institutions when exams are nearing.The government must come out with strict guidelines at the beginning of the academic year, ensuring uniformity. Students must learn to co-exist with different people.”
Ananth told TOI: “We never had a problem with each other’s belief because it does not interfere in any way. In the wake of communal incidents about eight years ago, a group of like-minded people came together to work for the betterment of the society, keeping aside religion.
On the various campaigns taken up, Azzfar said: “We try to make every festival memorable. We celebrated Christmas by distributing seeds of various plant species of the Western Ghats. On Eid, we distributed walking sticks to the needy. On Deepavali, we were with HIV-positive children at Snehadeep. We are working on at least one campaign every two months, including distributing maternity nutrition kits, spectacles, e-slates, bird feeders, ration kits and even conducting an English speaking course,” he said.
Ananth said: “We launch campaigns through funds raised from donors of all faiths and when selecting beneficiaries, religion is never a barrier. Society must teach students to co-exist peacefully. In schools, uniformity is necessary because we teach curricular, extra-curricular activities and impart life skill training so that children become school and street-smart. To ensure this, I have written three books, the Little Black Book for parents, teachers and students and 100% of the proceeds from the three books have gone into nation-building and charitable activities,” he said.