Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Pledge to eschew violence: Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Sunday called upon the people to pledge themselves to eschew violence saying violence was the weapon of the coward and the misguided.

In her International Day of Peace message she said “let us rededicate ourselves to the values our forefathers held dear and to the tenets enshrined in our religious texts. Let us truly look on each other as brothers and sisters. Let us give peace a chance.”

Stating that India was being torn asunder by the scourge of terrorism and insane violence, she said the victims were all common people. “Men, women and children, who do not even know why they have been targeted,” she said. She also came down upon the perpetrators of violence who claimed to have an ideology. “The ideologies are obscure. The causes are mostly imaginative. As a result, we have Hindus, Muslims and Christians being butchered by anti-social elements for no apparent reason, except a deep-seated hatred and intolerance,” she further said.

Pointing out that no religion sanctioned wanton killings, Ms Jayalalithaa said for centuries all religions had co-existed in India. “Why there is so much hatred today to warrant senseless, wanton killings in the name of religion? It is time for serious introspection,” she said.

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