The Hindu : Govts. held responsible for terrorism

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 17, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Govts. held responsible for terrorism

By Our Special Correspondent

SHIMOGA May 16. The Jnanpith Award winner, U.R. Ananthmurthy, said here on Thursday that Hindus and Muslims would not have developed mutual communal hatred, culminating in cross-border terrorism, had the governments of India and Pakistan punished the perpetrators of terrorism in the aftermath of the division of the country.

"The lenient stand taken by the then governments led to the criminal offences being communalised, giving a sense of courage to the perpetrators of organised crimes to take to mass killings in the name of religion, and get away with them," he said while addressing a seminar on "Islam and terrorism" organised by the Karnataka State Sunni Students' Federation, Shimoga District unit, at the Karnataka Sangha.

Referring to the communal violence in Gujarat, he said it was not enough if the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, was condemned for the carnage in Gujarat. He should also be punished. Paying tributes to the contribution of Muslims in every field of activity, Dr. Ananthmurthy said: "Would it have been possible for the saint-poet, Kabir, who symbolised Hindu-Muslim unity, to be born in India, had Muslims not made India their homeland?" Describing Islam as practised in India as the most beautiful in the world, he said it was possible because the Muslims had lived in harmony with other religious groups over the years. He observed that mutual suspicion and mistrust between Hindus and Muslims could have been removed had dialogues and discussions taken place in the initial stages. As the Chairman of the Kendra Sahitya Academy, he had suggested to the then Union Education Minister, Arjun Singh, to introduce the essence of all the leading religions at the primary school level so that the young minds would be saved from being poisoned by communal hatred. Moulana Khaleel Ahmedkhan Tahiri of the Imam Madina Masjid at Vasco in Goa, who inaugurated the seminar, regretted that Islam was being projected as the religion of terrorists by some vested interests. He asserted that the careful study of the Koran revealed that nowhere did it preach hatred and violence, but instead underscored the importance of fostering love and affection among various communities.

He said Islam was being projected as the religion of terrorists at the national and international level following the failure of certain forces to pit other religions against it.

Certain non-recognised groups, which did not represent even two per cent of Muslims, were trying to spread terrorism to tarnish the image of Islam. Janab Moulana Abdul Rasheed Zaini Kamil Sakhafi, leader of the Sunni Students' Federation, regretted that if Muslims were being seen as terrorists after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, it was the handiwork of certain vested interests. Taking exception to the observations made by some persons, including the journalist, Ravi Belagere, that the attacks on Muslims in Gujarat were a Hindu backlash for the Godhra incident, he pointed out that it was no surprise if Muslim children, who witnessed their mothers being raped or killed, subsequently turned into terrorists. It was the responsibility of all sensible persons to prevent them from becoming so, he added. He regretted that a systematic campaign was being carried on against the madrasas. It was only through fostering secular feelings that the threat of religious terrorism could be met effectively, he said.

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Govts. held responsible for terrorism