India Islamic centre condemns Boko Haram terror activities, calls on clerics to condemn terror outfit

The India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC) Thursday "strongly condemned the terror activities" of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram which has been holding more than 200 schoolgirls hostage for over a month.

In a statement released in New Delhi, Sirajuddin Qureshi, president of IICC, said that no Islamic tenet approves the abduction of innocent girl students to press for any kind of demand. He said even if the demand was legitimate, this kind of act cannot be religiously justified in any manner. It is "barbaric", to say the least.

He strongly criticised the group for committing an "un-Islamic act" in the name of Islam. Qureshi also maintained strongly that the Boko Haram terrorists were not followers of Islam or Prophet Muhammad, the statement said.

Qureshi appealed to the international community to help Nigeria tackle this situation and "wipe out the terror group without any delay".

He also requested prominent Indian clerics to openly condemn the Boko Haram and "bring a swift end to this prolonged crisis".

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is currently grappling with security challenges, one of which is the insurgency of Boko Haram which also seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution.

The IICC's objective is to "promote mutual understanding and amity amongst the people of this country and to depict the true face of Islam which is most tolerant, liberal, progressive, rational", says its website.