Hawzah News Agency  (Noida, India) - In a gesture of communal amity, Muslims from a Shia mosque in India visited the nearby Bethel Methodist Church and presented gifts to the priest and visitors on Christmas day.

The area has two churches, a Hindu temple and a mosque, all located within 500 metres of each other.

While Bethel Methodist Church in Sector 50's E-block was established in 2003, the mosque is almost 18 years older. The tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas began four years ago.

A group of 10 Muslims from 'Who is Hussain' organisation, an international Shia outfit, led by the maulana of the Anjuman Nasrane-Ahlebait mosque, Ghulam Ali Naqvi, visited the church and presented gifts to the priest and others just after the Sunday Mass in the afternoon.

Vaseem Zaidi, a member of the mosque committee and Noida representative for 'Who is Hussain', said that their group visits temples on Diwali to exchange greetings too.

"We gave a greeting card, chocolates and cookies to the priest and the children who had come to visit the church around 12 pm," he said.

Colonel SBA Zaidi, president of the mosque, said that the gesture was aimed at spreading the message of social harmony which has been forgotten these days.

"Every religion teaches only good. But these days, there is a divide and the concept of social harmony is fading slowly. Hence gatherings like these are an attempt to spread the message of love and unity," he said.

There is another church, the Immanuel Marthoma Church, located behind the mosque in the same block. A Hindu temple is also nearby, barely 500 metres away in Sector 51.

END