A jehad against jehadists

Hundreds of Muslims from across the city gathered at Jantar Mantar to hold a silent protest against terrorism. Muslim organisations spoke out vehemently against the Mumbai attacks condemned terrorism.

Hundreds of Muslims from across the city gathered at Jantar Mantar on Sunday to hold a silent protest against terrorism. Muslim organisations, religious leaders and common citizens spoke out vehemently against the Mumbai attacks and condemned terrorism.

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“This is a call to all Muslims to raise their voices against terrorism. We want to make it clear that Islam does not, in any way, support terrorism,” said Kamal Farooqui, chairperson of Delhi Minorities Commission.

Farooqui said all terrorist camps, wherever they were located, should be closed. “Even madrasas that misinterpret Islam should be closed down,” he said. He added that Muslim organisations across India were debating opening up of communication channels between various communities.

“We have decided that we should bring out booklets explaining the different aspects of Islam and phrases from the Quran,” said Farooqui.

Niyaz Farooqui, secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, said suspicion and anger against Muslims were growing by the day. “It is our duty to remove any kind of misconception about Islam and correct public perception. I think we have failed to educate people about our religion,” said Niyaz Farooqui. “Most of our religious books are in Urdu, whereas we should have provided translations in Hindi and English. There is a need to pass on correct information today,” he said.

But Tasleem Rehmani, president of Muslim Political Council of India, disagreed. “We have organised hundreds of seminars, conferences and rallies to protest terrorism and tell people that Indian Muslims are not involved in any heinous acts,” said Rehmani.

He said politicians wanted to divide communities with their vote bank politics. “People like LK Advani make insulting statements, such as, ‘every Muslim is not a terrorist but every terrorist is a Muslim’. This is not true. There have been various forms of terrorism in the garb of ULFA, Bodo, Kashmiri and Sikh movements,” said Rehmani.