Don't link terrorism to any religion, urges anti-terrorism Muslim meet

Hyderabad, Nov 8 : The two-day anti-terrorism Muslim conference, being held in Hyderabad urged on Saturday not to link terrorism with any religion.

The seminar to denounce terrorism is organised by Jamiat Ulmea-I-Hind, a Muslim organisation.

For years, bomb attacks in India have mostly been blamed on Islamist militants. Even attacks on mosques were often blamed on Islamists seeking to spark communal tensions between India's majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

Muslim leaders have accused authorities of conducting a witch hunt and reinforcing stereotypes about their community after dozens of Muslims were detained following a string of bomb attacks across the country this year.

Home to more than 140 million Muslims (the world's third largest Islamic population), many Indian Muslims felt alienated after communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.

Maulana Mahmood Asad Madni, General Secretary of Jamaat-E-Ulema refused to comment on the arrest of Hindu God-woman Pragya Singh in connection with a blast in Malegaon.

"Do you want us to declare an accused a convict before the decision of a court? When a Muslim is blamed, media shows it as if he is a convict. We have been opposing that and now when anybody is being accused, how can we label that, it would be our double standard. We will not make a comment on it until the court gives a decision. But we want to say this to law enforcing agencies, political parties, media and common Indian citizens that don't link terrorism with any religion," said Madni.

Five people were killed in the blasts that hit the two Muslim-dominated towns within minutes of each other on September 29 this year.

In August, two suspected Hindu militant fundamentalists died while trying to build a bomb in Kanpur.

Muslims make up about 13 per cent of India's population -- giving it the third largest Islamic population after Indonesia and Pakistan.

ANI