On 28 May 2014, I received a call from Maulana Athar Shamsi who lives in Kairana in UP. He has studied at an Islamic seminary and is now pursuing education at a college. The area where he lives is where riots had happened sometime earlier. He told me that he was travelling on a rickshaw and his sister was seated next to him in a burqah. He himself has a beard. Their rickshaw got stuck in a traffic jam. Meanwhile, a man belonging to another faith came on a bike. He stood beside their rickshaw and when he saw them, he began to abuse them bitterly. All this while, Maulana Shamsi and his sister did not react in the least and remained completely silent. When the man finally got tired, he stopped speaking. Then Maulana Shamsi quietly took out a copy of the Hindi translation of the Quran from his bag and presented it to the man by saying that it was a spiritual gift for him. Suddenly, the man was overwhelmed. He folded his hands and pleaded for forgiveness for his behaviour. He told the Maulana that he was a saint -- he said: 'I abused you, but you gave me a spiritual gift in return.' He then touched the feet of Maulana Shamsi out of respect. The man changed completely: this was the miracle of presenting him the Quran. Then Maulana Shamsi called the police superintendent of Shamli district and told him about the incident that had occurred with him. He said had he reacted, a riot would have ensued. The superintendent then asked for the number on the man's bike. Maulana Shamsi replied: 'I am a member of CPS. The policy of CPS is to return hatred with love and well-wishing. Do you think a person like me would have noted down the number on the man's bike? When I had no revenge or hatred for the man, how could have I noted down his number?' Listening to this, the police superintendent was very impressed. When Maulana Shamsi gave him the Quran, he too accepted with great respect. When the District Magistrate came to know of this, he invited Maulana Shamsi for food with him, which is a a very rare gesture.
