The Hindu : New Delhi News : Congress, BJP hail Deoband declaration

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Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008
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New Delhi

Congress, BJP hail Deoband declaration

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have welcomed the statement of a convention of Muslim clerics led by the Deoband school at Darul Uloom.

Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said every citizen of the country should join the fight against terrorism. “The Congress does not accept the criticism that people belonging to a certain religion were being picked up and harassed by the police.” The United Progressive Alliance had come into power on an anti-communal agenda, she said.

Deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha V.K. Malhotra, welcoming the Deoband statement, said it should be given maximum publicity. “Its message should be made known and followed. If this is put into practice, it would be good … we welcome it.”

He pointed out that Islam had been linked with terrorism and if this link was broken, it would be good. At the same time he said an increasing number of Indians were being connected to terrorist incidents, establishing that they were being influenced by a jehadi mentality. The Muslim clerics had now unequivocally stated that all terror acts against innocent people were un-Islamic.

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