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Indian
Religious Meeting: “Islam Does Not Tolerate Terrorism”
By
our own correspondent
VIJAYAWADA,
Jan. 23 (IslamOnline)- For the first time after the September 11
attacks in America and the subsequent killings of Muslims in
Afghanistan, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s Andhra Pradesh and Orissa
region organized a three-day meeting at Mukthi Maidan in Vijayawada
from January 18 to January 20, 2002.
The
JIH gathering which was attended by Muslim, Hindu and Sikh leaders,
comes at a time when India and Pakistan are on the brink of war.
JIH
president, Maulana Muhammad Sirajul Hasan, inaugurated the conclave
by emphasizing that terrorism has never been endorsed by any
religion, least of all by Islam.
Hasan
added that Muslims will not tolerate the vicious attempts of linking
terrorism with Islam following the bombing of the World Trade Center
in America.
This
is nothing but atrocious and alarming, he said. “Terrorism is
terrorism. A thief is not referred to by his religion. There is
nothing like a Muslim thief, Hindu thief or a Christian thief,”
Hasan said.
The
JIH president pointed out that the 20th century witnessed two great
wars and the wiping out of two ‘isms’ – Socialism and
Communism. However, he added that now materialism has taken the
place of capitalism in a new garb and that the advent of science and
technology could not bring solace to the people.
Moreover,
on the inaugural day a symposium on "The Challenges of the
Present Situation and the Muslim Community" was organized. It
was addressed among others by Syed Hamid, Chancellor of the Hamdard
University, New Delhi, Syed Shahabuddin, president of All-India
Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, New Delhi, and Syed Sa’adathullah
Husaini, president of the SIO of India which is the JIH’s youth
branch.
Andhra
Pradesh Minister for Agriculture, Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, while
speaking at a symposium on "Whither India – Our
responsibilities," held on the second day of the conclave, said
that the demolition of the Babri mosque by some communal elements
was the greatest slur on the image of secular India.
Pradesh
said that the forces behind this shameful act of destroying the
mosque have not been brought to book even after nine years. The
minister, who deplored the attacks on Christians in Gujarat and
condemned the bomb blast in a church at Machilipatnam, said:
"Any act against secularism should be treated as a terrorist
act."
The
All-India Christian Council secretary general, John Dayal, speaking
on the occasion, pointed out that the Hindu fundamentalists are all
out for minorities’ blood. He said that they must be reined in
before it is too late.
Dayal
remarked: "There is a conspiracy being hatched in the northern
part of the country. Hindu fundamentalists have set up more than
three lakh shishu vihars to brainwash the young minds in Madhya
Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. They are planning to build about 3.3
lakh temples in the belt." The government should order a
high-level probe into the activities of such elements, he demanded.
"The
very tenor of Indian democracy is at stake and drastic changes
should be made at the grassroots level for the survival of secular
India. Everyone should respect others’ religious sentiments for a
better future," Dayal stressed.
"The
Role of Religions in the Reconstruction of the Country" was the
theme of the symposium organized on the concluding day of the
conclave.
Hindu
pontiff, Jagatguru Shankaracharya Madhavananda Saraswati, asked the
gathering to espouse the cause of supreme religious tolerance.
"First
of all accept each other as a fellow human being, and then as a
member of a religious sect. All paths lead to the same one
God," he exhorted.
It
is only political differences, which tend to cause chaos in the
society, Shankaracharya observed.
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