National

A fitting reply to communal forces: Gowda

NEW DELHI: The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H. D. Deve Gowda on Tuesday welcomed the fatwa issued by the Darul Uloom Deoband against terrorism.

In a statement, he described the fatwa as a fitting reply to attempts by communal forces to unleash a false propaganda every time a tragedy occurred to “create misapprehension and doubts in the minds of people on Islam’s position on terrorism.”

Such attempts by the communal forces to “milk human tragedies are even more heinous than the acts of terrorism,” he said.

“The terrorists carry out such acts only to create hatred and distrust but the collective will of society manages to defeat this agenda. However, the failed job of the terrorists is then taken over by the communal forces who try to create an atmosphere of distrust, which now this fatwa serves to thwart.”

Pointing out that the fatwa was issued at the most appropriate time, Mr. Gowda said it “nailed the lie propounded by communal forces” equating Islam and ‘jihad’ with terrorism. “It has also exposed the propaganda that Muslim organisations were silent on terrorism or that they sympathised with such violent activities.”

Calling for reservation for minorities in education and employment, he said the governments at the Centre and in States should also ensure a quota for the Other Backward Classes and minorities in panchayats and other local bodies within the existing 33 per cent.

In the Women’s Reservation Bill, now before a parliamentary standing committee, there should be a provision for Muslim representation within the 33 per cent quota.

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