‘It is unfair to brand Muslims as sponsors of terrorism’

 
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind on Sunday called upon intellectuals from across the country to expose people in the state who unfairly blame Muslims for every terror act. 

The Jamaat urged Muslims to treat both terrorism and the unfair branding as a ‘social and political challenge’.

Jamaat members want an independent commission set up by the Centre to inquire into the recent ‘acts of Muslim radical terror’.

Speaking at a symposium titled ‘Terrorism: Propaganda or reality’ at Dadar, Feroze Mithiborwala of Muslim Intellectual Forum said, “The myth of terrorism is part of a global conspiracy by the US and its allies like Israel. It is unfortunate that Muslims should be viewed with suspicion and subjected to racial profilings.”

S Iftiker Ahmad, editor of Marathi weekly Shodhan, said an entire community could not be termed as being the sponsors of terrorism. “With truth movements aimed at exposing the politics behind terror gaining ground, governments will find it difficult to fool people all the time.” Several among the speakers at the conference said more and more people were viewing ‘terrorism’ with scepticism and had started to question the veracity of the ‘official versions’ that follow an act of violence.

Former judge of Bombay High Court Hosbet Suresh said, “State terrorism is the worst thing to befall our country. There is no public accountability as the systems of justice have stopped functioning the way they should. In this context, terrorism seems to be mostly propaganda against a credulous population.”