New Delhi:
On the most important day of their year, thousands of Muslims gathered early at the Eidgah mosque in Lucknow. After the traditional namaaz, rang out this request from the Sunni cleric: "Allah, please help us get rid of diseases like polio from our land".
For decades, the polio vaccine has been treated with skepticism by many Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. UNICEF's Augustine Veliath explains that many consider "polio vaccines a kind of western conspiracy to make children impotent...so somehow this rumour grew in currency, and a lot of families hid their male child".
As a result, more than half of UP's polio cases are Muslims. Just 2 years ago, that statistic was even more worrying - more than 70 per cent of the state's polio victims were Muslims.
So leaders within the community are now making concerted attempts to help eradicate ignorance. Eid provided a captive audience for their cause.