Indian-American Muslim leaders condemn UP serial blasts

NEW YORK: Indian-American Muslim leaders here have condemned the near-simultaneous blasts in three cities of Uttar Pradesh, describing them as "cowardly crimes against humanity."
 
The Muslim leaders, in a statement released on Friday, appealed to all communities to maintain harmony.
 
Terming the bombings as terrorist acts, Shaik Ubaid, the founding president of ImanNet, a Muslim advocacy group and one of the national coordinators of Coalition Against Genocide, urged the central and state governments to conduct a speedy and transparent investigation and to punish the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.
 
Saeed Patel, one of the national Coordinators of Non Resident Indians for a Secular and Harmonious India, expressed sympathy for the victims and the families and praised the local government's announcement that it would provide immediate financial relief to the victims.
 
Syed Azmathullah Quadri, a leading community leader, appealed to all communities in India to strengthen communal harmony and not to let the perpetrators of terrorism succeed in increasing communal hatred.
 
He urged the NRI community in the US to be wary of communal forces and to strengthen broad-based coalitions such as Coalition Against Genocide and Indian-American Coalition for Pluralism.