Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Manifesto for jihad

The analysis of the email sent by the Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for the Jaipur blasts (“Not just a claim, a manifesto for jihad,” May 17), is a lucid account of the jihadis’ mindset and their justification of senseless killings. Their terror campaign is based on the hatred for Hindus and rejection of the call of enlightened Muslim clerics. Their misguided movement to eliminate all those who do not believe in Islam has very few supporters even among Muslims. Islamist terrorism is the biggest threat to peace in India. The entire nation should unite to fight this menace.

N. Hariharan,

Coimbatore

Chilling is the word to describe the attitude of those who have sent the email. The motive of the terrorists is mass homicide. Their reasons include Gujarat, Maharashtra, and the Babri Masjid demolition, apart from the “dirty mud” that constitutes Ram, Sita and Hanuman, according to them. What is worrying is that poor innocent Muslim youth may believe the terrorists’ justification for their ugly attacks. It is unfortunate that the creative energy of men is being wasted in such acts of destruction.

It would be naïve to ignore the threats contained in the email. While internal terror outfits need to be monitored, infiltration from across the borders — PoK, Nepal and Bangladesh — needs to be contained.

Raghu Seshadri,

Chennai

I condemn the violence committed in the name of Islam. Unless there is great injustice and persecution and breaking of the covenant leading to the subjugation of Muslims, there can be no call for a war. The Indian Mujahideen’s flimsy logic for indulging in terror attacks is unacceptable. My prayers and sympathies are with the victims of the terror attacks — ordinary people, non-Muslim and Muslim — who died in vain. I have great love for my country and I value the freedom and privileges it offers. My endeavour, like all other Muslims, is to make it a better place through education, ahimsa, and other benign means.

Thehseen Zakir,

Kochi

The terrorists who were responsible for the death of over 60 people in Jaipur deserve no mercy. They are monsters in human form. The BJP has predictably held the UPA government’s soft approach to terrorism responsible for the blasts. But it is the BJP that is in power in Rajasthan.

Did terrorist strikes not take place when the NDA government was in power at the Centre? The Centre and the State government should stop the blame game. Terrorism is a common enemy of all governments, people and religions.

Syed Irfan Patel,

Yavatmal

Instead of knee-jerk reactions to terror attacks, there should be a continuous hunt for terrorists. The Centre and the States should make unified and continuous efforts to track them down. No consideration, political or otherwise, should come in the way of tackling the menace as we are fighting an enemy who has roots both within and outside the country.

Public cooperation is a must. For instance, whenever a stranger buys a number of alarm clocks, bicycles or batteries, the vendors should alert the police. Above all, there should be total, unconditional condemnation of terrorism.

K. Raghunadha Rao,

Hyderabad

The ease with which the perpetrators of terror strike, their modus operandi, the inputs they use for their brutal, devastating and incendiary operations and, to top it all, the precision with which they target crowded and sensitive places make one wonder where our terrorism control mechanism and methodology fail.

R. Sampath,

Chennai

We have regular blasts and regular investigations into them but we never find the people behind them. It is doubly tragic that only the common man dies in such attacks. He pays taxes so that his political masters and their kin can be protected.

Sunit Saraswat,

Hyderabad

The only response from our government to terror strikes is a well-worded condemnation, and a declaration that the existing laws are sufficient to combat terrorism. Stringent laws may not be, prima facie, required but they are necessitated by inefficient administration and execution of the existing laws.

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