A man with a flowing beard with a copy of the Quran balanced on a fence in front him tried to convince pedestrians that terrorism and Islam were not synonymous.
He stood on a police-barricaded street close to where a few thousand people staged a rally protesting the proposed construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York on Saturday, and told those who cared to listen that Islam was not a monolithic orthodoxy, as is popularly believed.
"The problem is ignorance," he said to the passing masses.
Barely five feet away, two women were giving lectures explaining why they thought Islam is bad and why there is a need to stop this "stupid mosque thing." The younger of the two started sobbing as she recounted the destruction of the twin towers at World Trade Centre nine years ago. A few bystanders came forward to wipe her tears and to give her a hug.
The most amazing thing about Saturday afternoon's Ground Zero protest against the proposed mosque was that freedom of speech, the centerpiece of American democratic values, was in full view. People from different backgrounds and faiths expressed their views, and those with opposing opinions often stood almost shoulder to shoulder. Despite frayed tempers, there was no violence.
Defenders and opponents of the planned Muslim community centre that is to include a mosque at Park Place, two blocks from the World Trade Centre, stood within earshot of each other, trying to defend their views. Tempers ran high as each tried to justify his or her stand, but the situation never got out of hand, partly because the police were also present in good numbers to prevent any untoward incident. The centre is being set up under the leadership of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his Indian-born wife Daisy Khan.
The opponents of the community centre were larger in number -- an estimated 3,000 people, who were put in two tight enclosures with their banners and buntings. Among those on the stage who addressed the protesters were Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders, who called for a ban for the community centre.
"We should never give a free hand to people who want to subjugate us. New York should not become the New Mecca," he said to thunderous chants against Islam and American Muslims.
Joining the protests were a few dozen pro-Hindu activists, mainly led by Narain Kataria, president of the Indian Intellectual Forum, and Satya Dosapati of Hindu Human Rights Watch. Dosapati said in a press statement that he could not get time to deliver his speech but had wanted to point out that one should not ever trust any politician who says Islam is religion of peace.
"Islam is submission. It is religion of submission. When Mr (President Barack) Obama is saying Islam is a religion of peace, he is lying, just as he lied about his deep Muslim roots to the American electorate. It is important that we show the door out to any politician who is telling Americans such lies," according to the undelivered speech.
The loud voice of the anti-community centre activists, whose voice went far with the help of speakers, could not drown out the voices of those who wanted tolerance and were against the condemnation of Muslims as a community.
The Muslim man in an off-white robe, who was addressing the passing crowd, had some three dozen people around him when an elderly American came from behind and started hurling choicest expletives at him. The man cursed Islam and the Muslims for what has happened to America on 9/11.
"We are Americans, you know, and believe in equal rights," he shouted at the top of his voice.
"Oh, what a great example of tolerance in America. Why don't you move from here," one woman among the bystanders said. A man came to the Muslim's defense. "Listen, we are trying to hear his point of view. Why don't you move," he said.
The police came in and dispersed the small gathering before things got out of hand.
But confrontations did not get ugly during the rally. People, both for and against the community centre, mostly engaged in verbal exchanges, although some, mostly passerby, did go further.
When one woman passing by the pro-community centre group on the barricaded street hurled abuses against Muslims, one of them shot back, "Are you from this neighbourhood? What business do you have to say what you are saying?"
There was a man who had a copy of the Quran hanging from his neck and message that read, "These papers can be used for toilet cleaning." Many standing around expressed their disgust while other cheered him.
Hate and love went hand in hand at the rally, but in the true spirit of the American value of freedom of expression, no one was debarred from expressing his or her opinion. People never came to fight each other physically but expressed their opinions as strongly as they could.
Kataria said that the Hindus who had attended the event, had mingled with the crowd and it was difficult to see all of them.
"They are not in a group you see," he said. This correspondent, however, failed to spot them despite spending the afternoon going through the crowd.
"I think our Hindu brothers from India need to be woken up. They need awareness about this Muslim menace," said Sunanda Thali, one activist. "You know what happened in West Bengal where Muslims attacked Hindus the other day? Today, they [the Hindus] did not come in large numbers to join this protest, although they should have."
There were other Indian Americans present, though they were part of various other groups who were all for tolerance and acceptance of the community centre. The banners and buntings expressed the divergence of opinion.
President Obama on Saturday said the terrorists may seek to strike fear among Americans but they are no match for US' resilience.
'They may seek to spark conflict between different faiths, but as Americans we are not -- and never will be -- at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day, it was Al Qaeda, a sorry band of men who pervert religion. And just as we condemn intolerance and extremism abroad, so will we stay true to our traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant nation," he said in a memorial speech at the Pentagon.
"We champion the rights of every American, including the right to worship as one chooses -- as service members and civilians from many faiths do just steps from here, at the very spot where the terrorists struck this building. Those who attacked us sought to demoralise us, divide us, to deprive us of the very unity, the very ideals, that make America America -- those qualities that have made us a beacon of freedom and hope to billions around the world," Obama said.
"Today, we declare once more we will never hand them that victory. As Americans, we will keep alive the virtues and values that make us who we are and who we must always be," he said.
"We do not succumb to fear, nor will we squander the optimism that has always defined us as a people. On a day when others sought to destroy, we have chosen to build, with a National Day of Service and Remembrance that summons the inherent goodness of the American people," he said.
Image: The Tribute in Light, two erected vertical columns of light at the site of the World Trade Centre in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks | Photograph: Jay Mandal/On Assignment
