Muslim body asks Centre to provide aid for Iraq

Jamait-Ulama-i-Hind's secretary Niaz Ahmad Farooqi criticised the "laid-back" attitude of the Centre and demanded that India should stop "this subtle toeing" of the American line on Iraq.

Describing the war against Iraq as an "American ploy to enslave third world countries and establish economic hegemony", a Muslim body on Wednesday demanded humanitarian assistance for Iraq from the Centre.

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"We are taking a team of doctors and paramedicos to Iraq on April 7 and we demand that the Centre should provide some concrete help which they have not offered so far," Niaz Ahmad Farooqi, Secretary of Jamait-Ulama-i-Hind, said here addressing a rally to protest the US attack on Iraq.

Criticising, what he referred to as the "laid-back" attitude of the Centre, Farooqi said, "We demand that a moral vocal stance be taken and this subtle toeing of American line should be discarded. India should learn something from France and Russia who are unambigious in their denial of this unjustified war."

Rubbishing the idea that it was a clash between Christianity and Islam, Farooqi said, "Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz is a Christian and most of the countries opposing the war are non-Muslim so it has nothing to do with religion."