Shanti Prakashana, spreading message of communal amity through Kannada literature

Shanti prakashana is a trust which was established during 1988 in Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada district. The main aim of Shanti prakashana is to educate Muslims (who do not know Arabic and Urdu) on Islamic studies, Quran, Hadees or the way of life of Prophet Mohammad and his character, by translating them into Kannada. Shanti Prakashana does not only translate books, but makes them easy to understand and enable people to adopt the principles of Islam in their lives. The objective of Shanti Prakashana is to remove the misconceptions and misunderstandings about Islam and Muslims lodged in the minds of non-muslim brothers who have been living together since time immemorial. The various books brought out by the organisation in Kannada have benefited many. Shanti- Prakashana has not only printed these books but has also set up mobile book depots named Shanthi Sanchari Pustakalaya to tour the entire state, especially in crowded places like melas, jatras, near mosques, temples, churches etc. These books are also exhibited in the premises of colleges, government offices, High Court etc, after obtaining permission from the concerned authorities. Thus, people get to purchase and read the books. Shanti Prakashana has published nearly 250 titles in the last 25years. The head office of the organization is in Mangalore, where printing of books takes place, as people having knowledge of Arabic and who can translate books into Kannada are more in number in this city. The organization is rendering yeomen service to the society. The organization celebrated its Silver Jubilee year during 2013. Karnataka Muslims fortnightly, caught up with Mr. K.M. Ashraf, Trustee of Shanti Prakashana and here are the edited excerpts from the interview: 1. Since how long are you associated with Shanti Prakashana? I have been a part of this organization, as trustee, since 15 years. 2. Who is the founder of the organization? The founders of Shanti Prakashana include late Mr. Ibrahim Sayeed, Maulana Mohammad Siraj-ul- Hasan, Mr. Iqbal Mulla and Mr. Mahmeed Khan. The first chairman of this organization was Mr. Syed Shabeer Ahmed. Late Mr. Ibrahim Sayeed, a journalist, writer and orator was instrumental in Shanti Prakashana spreading knowledge of Islam in Karnataka by translating books into Kannada language. He was the backbone of Shanti Prakashana. 3. How authentic are the translations of Quran? The translations of Quran done by established and famous Urdu writers are translated into Kannada with the support of ‘hadees’. Similarly, we intend to translate original Kannada books into English and we have already initiated action in this regard. 4. What kind of reaction did you get for translation of Quran in Kannada language? We have received more appreciation than criticism for our work. Initially, some Muslim brothers were apprehensive that the meaning of Quran, when translated into Kannada may change. Since nobody had attempted this before, we had to muster courage facing the initial opposition to this venture. However, we have overcome these hurdles and at present, even those who had doubts have joined hands with us in translation. Not only Muslim religious heads and writers, even the swamiji’s like Tondadarya Swamiji ( Gadag ) Belimath Swamiji, Niruma midi swamiji, Patil Puttappa and many more others have appreciated our books. 5. What are the other activities of the organization? Apart from participating in book fairs at taluk, district and state levels, we conduct religious discussions, symposiums etc. where participants belong to all castes and religions. 6. Does Shanti Prakashana bring out magazines and newsletters, every year? Not every year, but on the occasion of 10^th anniversary of Shanti Prakashana we had prepared a booklet, “Sahithya moolaka sauharda” meaning “Communal amity through literature”.  A forty-five day campaign including book exhibitions were conducted throughout the state. During 2013, being the silver jubilee, too, a similar campaign called “Shantigagi Sahithya” meaning literature for peace was conducted from November 1-30 in various big cities in the state. Symposiums, panel discussions with writers, separate programmes for women, children and cultural programmes were conducted in Bangalore, Gulbarga, Gadag and Shimoga. The concluding programme was held at Feroze estate where famous literateurs, writers and swamijis and representatives of different religions were present. Vision-expo show casing models with regard to the message of Islam, current solid issues like female foeticide, addiction to alcohol, tobacco and drugs and its harmful effects, teachings of Islam regarding these things, unequal distribution of wealth/ development etc. were conducted to reach the people. Shanti Prakashana has launched its website. We have a separate trust named “Sanmarga Anupama” which released Sanmarga weekly’s Shanti Prakashana special bulletin for the silver jubilee celebrations. 7. Are non-muslims also involved in the organization? There are no non-muslim trustees. However, we have non-muslim working staff in the office. We have translated books/ writings of non-muslim writers on Islam or related topics, Prophet Mohammad and issues found to be good and published them. For example, “Islam- aatank ya aadarsh”, a comparative study on Hinduism and Islam written by a swamiji from Lucknow, has been translated by Shanti Prakashana. 8. What are the future plans of the organisation? We plan to continue translation of books on Islam and related topics into Kannada from not only Arabic and Urdu but also from Malayalam, English and other languages. We are planning to establish an office in Bangalore too. Right now we have a book depot in Bangalore.   Karnataka Muslims