The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Ahmadiyya leader calls for joint action to contain terrorism

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Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
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Ahmadiyya leader calls for joint action to contain terrorism

K.P.M. Basheer

Mirza Masroor Ahmad

KOCHI: Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the supreme spiritual leader (Khalifa) of the Ahmadis, a global Muslim sect, has called for a ‘strong and joint action’ by all the countries against terrorism.

“Terrorism should be handled with a firm hand,” Khalifa Masroor said in an interview to The Hindu on Monday. “Let all the governments join hands for a strong and joint action against terrorists.”

The Pakistan-born Khalifa Masroor, 58, who has been in Kerala for a week as part of the centenary of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat (spiritual leadership), condemned the Mumbai terror attacks and pointed out that terrorism had killed more Muslims than others world over.

“I totally condemn the indiscriminate firing at innocents (in Mumbai),” he said. He claimed that none of the Ahmadiyya Muslims, numbering 170 million and spread across 190 countries, had so far been accused of any act of terrorism as the community stood against violence.

Ahmadis were taught to be loyal and obedient to the governments of the countries they lived in and shun all forms of violence.

“This is why we are welcome everywhere in the world,” the Khalifa, an agricultural economist who now lives in London, which is the world headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, said.

Khalifa Masroor points out that Islam is against violence and that it advocates peaceful resolution of conflicts.

“Even while at war, Muslims have to follow a strict code of conduct prescribed by the Prophet,” the Khalifa said.

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