NEW DELHI: Over a hundred prominent Indians from diverse backgrounds, including actor Naseeruddin Shah, lyricist Javed Akhtar, lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan and writer-activist Tushar Gandhi, on Saturday unequivocally condemned the recent murders in France in the name of religion.
They also criticized the scandalous statements by some Muslim religious and political leaders “rationalizing” the killings.
The 130 signatories of the declaration also included actors Shabana Azmi, Swara Bhasker, Zeeshan Ayyub, writer-director Feroz Abbas Khan, director Kabir Khan, screenwriter Anjum Rajabali, documentary director Anand Patwardhan, the retired officer. of IPS Julio F Ribeiro and industrialist Abdul. Aziz Lokhandwala.
They “unequivocally and unconditionally” condemned the recent murders committed in France by “two fanatics in the name of faith”.
“We are deeply disturbed by the convoluted logic of certain self-proclaimed guardians of Indian Muslims to rationalize the cold-blooded killings and deplore the scandalous remarks of certain heads of state,” the statement said.
It has become the order of the day for all religious groups to engage in “anything” whenever such heinous crimes are committed by people belonging to their herd, the signatories of the statement said.
Rationalizing crimes by comparing them to similar crimes committed by others is an irrational and absurd argument because two wrongs do not make a right, according to the statement.
“We reject all ifs and buts in the justification of heinous crimes in the name of religion, of all religion. No god, gods, goddesses, prophets or saints can be invoked to justify the murder and / or terror of other human beings, ”he told me.
“We stand in solidarity with the ‘French Council for Muslim Faith’ for strongly condemning the attacks and appealing to all Muslims in France to ‘cancel all celebrations of the Prophet’s birthday as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims and their relatives, ”the statement said.
Also among the signatories are Danish writer-producer Jawed, theater personality Mallika Sarabhai, Medha Patkar of the National Alliance of Popular Movements and retired JNU professor Mridula Mukherjee.
Three people died Thursday in a knife attack in a church in Nice, described by French President Emmanuel Macron as an “Islamist terrorist attack”.
A few weeks ago, an assailant beheaded a French schoolteacher who was showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad for a course on freedom of expression.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized French President Macron for his remarks on the controversy over the cartoons.
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