By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
New Delhi: To blame entire Muslim community for terrorism is wrong, said Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at an international anti-terrorism conference organized by Jama Masjid United Forum (JMUF) in the national capital on 1st June.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Dalai Lama said there was no substitute for peace and violence could never be a solution to problems. He lauded anti-terrorism campaign launched by Indian Muslim religious leadership.
Besides Dalai Lama, the dignitaries who spoke at the conference included former Afghan President Prof. Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, Chief Justice of Maldives Sheikh Muhammad Rasheed Ibrahim, Vice-rector of the Tashkent Islamic University Shaislam Ikramovich Akmalov, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad, Imam of Delhi’s Shahi Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Madhu Purnima Kishwar, senior fellow at Centre for the Study of the Developing Societies, social activist Teesta Setalvad, Rauff Hakeem, parliamentarian and former minister of Sri Lanka, Fr. Vincent M. Concessao, Archbishop of Delhi, Hasham Babar, secretary general of Awami National Party of Pakistan and Rashtriya Sahara Group Editor Aziz Burney.
Inaugurating the programme, Ghulam Nabi Azad said no religion teaches terrorism and that poverty, illiteracy, ghetto-culture, social isolation, poor governance and corruption play a role in accelerating terrorism that is further abetted by violent tendencies in some youths.
Ahmed Bukhari said questions like: what is terrorism, who is the terrorist, who patronize terrorists and why terrorism is spreading, are answered differently but all agree that everywhere in the world it is oppression, injustice, deprivations and coercion that give birth to terrorism. As regards India, we saw a series of horrifying anti-Muslim riots after independence but the worst example of terrorism was the demolition of Babri Masjid, Bukhari said. He regretted that neither is there unity amongst Muslims nor are Muslim leaders and organizations united, adding that this disunity is the reason why Muslims are facing ignominy and humiliation everywhere.
Madhu Kishwar pointed out that not only the non-state actors are spreading terror among public but police and military forces are also frightening the public. So, we should examine how lawful our state law agencies are and how tolerant our political institutions are, she said.
Rauff Hakeem from Sri Lanka said that a bad judicial, police and political system allows terrorist organizations to feed on.
Hasham Babar stated that modern education is almost nil in Pakistan border areas and under religious education, politics-oriented sermons are delivered instead of religious or spiritual ones. He suggested that international communities must have multifaceted approach to counter terrorism. He appreciated Indian government’s announcement that Indian madrasas are not spreading extremist thoughts.
Teesta Setalvad said that there is a need to examine the term ‘Terrorism’ and differentiate between speeches and hate speeches, adding that violence could not only done by terrorists but also by state-led pogroms. She told that in Naxalite-controlled areas, there are no modern education systems but hateful education is provided by the Vishva Hindu Parishad.
Fr. Vincent M. Concessao maintained that every human is precious; therefore, every human should respect life.
K.P.S. Gill said the term ‘Islamic Terrorism’ is completely baseless as we can not relate terror with religion or religion with terror.
Agreeing with K.P.S. Gill, Shaislam I. Akmalov upheld that extremism and terrorism are international in their nature and we require a comprehensive approach to tackle these problems.
Appreciating the initiative taken by JMUF by organizing a unique conference on terrorism, Aziz Burney regretted that a country that is struggling against terrorism has been giving birth to terrorism, violence and riots for decades. He reminded that the killing of Mahatma Gandhi on 30th January 1948 was carried out by a non-Muslim as were the killings of ex-Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. So, it is meaningless to say that Muslims are terrorists. On global terrorism, he said if Saddam Hussein was responsible for thousands of killings, then why Bush has not been held responsible for millions of killings in Afghanistan and Iraq.