And as the Mahatma writes, true to his word, the Maulana after his conversation with Gandhi, started "preaching amongst his followers and friends the necessity of abstaining from cow-killing." That very day in 1919, Gandhi had also received a telegram from Maulana Bari (that is referred to in the letter) stating: "In celebration of Hindu-Muslim unity, no cow sacrifices in Ferangi Mahal this Baqreid-Abdul Bari. "A Sufi and an Aalim (scholar), as author and historian, Gail Minault wrote in her book 'The Khilafat Movement', Bari had "religious influence over a variety of followers, and a large group of disciples from the Northwest to Bengal to Madras. "But it was not out of pressure that the unifying step was adopted by Muslims under his leadership. "Later, following Bari's footsteps, some senior members of the Muslim League had also agreed to avoid cow slaughter during Bakrid in other parts of the state too.

Source: Times of India September 12, 2016 03:03 UTC