By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net
Mumbai: Only a united society can successfully take on terrorism and communalism that are on rise in the country, said speakers at a programme on “Terrorism & Communalism: Challenges & Responsibilities” held in Mumbai on December 23.
The intellectuals who took part in the debate were unanimous that the only solution to put an end to terrorism lay in waging a war against it unitedly. The speakers also demanded a fair probe into Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s death. The talk was organized by Qaumi Majlis-e-Shoora.
Addressing the gathering the editor of Rashtriya Sahara Mumbai, Sa’eed Hameed said that terrorism cannot be eliminated unless communalism is put to an end. ‘Communalism is the mother of terrorism. Unless communalism is ended terrorism will be unstoppable. Here in our country ‘terrorists’ are put to death but the ‘communalists’ are free to roam. The law for both the terrorism and communalism should be same or only the culprits of Mumbai 1993 blast like cases would be punished while the killer of thousands of people in Mumbai and Gujarat riots would be given ministry and the post of CM.’
Ajit Sahi, senior journalist of Tehelka magazine, criticized the political game over 26/11 and said that Modi reached Mumbai and offered one crore rupees to the widow of Karkare while the heirs of Ramesh Nagji, the person killed on the Kuber boat, were not given even one rupee as compensation by the state government. ‘None of the politicians reached his home. When I visited his house in Sameer Gaon, Junagarh, Gujarat, on December 10, I found that till the time none of the leaders had gone to them. They got the news of the death of his son Ramesh Nagji from newspapers.’
He also said that the government has managed to pass a law against terrorist that is a ‘black law’ in which it has extended the police custody from 14 days to 30 days. It is similar to cruelty. He also said that the true Hindus always want peace. BJP and other communal parties do not represent Hinduism.
Maulana Abdul Hameed Azhari said that there was no sanction in Islam even to cut down a fruit-bearing tree then how it can allow shedding the blood of an innocent? He also criticized the way of investigation adopted by the government and said that the scope of probe should be expanded.
‘Only a united power of Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs etc. is the cure for ‘terrorism’. Those who want to divide the society on communal lines are helping terrorists.’ He asked who had released Mas’ood Azhar.
Abu Asim Azmi, the president of Qaumi Majlis-e-Shoora and Samajwadi Party leader, said that injustice and oppression breed terrorism. He demanded investigation into link between RSS & ISI. ‘Karkare was killed by Pakistani terrorists and his death should be investigated. It was Hindutva elements who sought help of Pakistani terrorists to remove Karkare from the way,’ he said.
Jatin Desai, a renowned journalist, cautioned India to wage a war against Pakistan; for war is not a solution to terrorism. ‘Both the countries, India and Pakistan, have nuclear weapons. If India has 70-80 then Pakistan also has 30-40 nuke weapons. Any war between the countries will result into the destruction of both the countries.’