Secular organisations, AIMMM condemn Doda massacre

New Delhi, May 2 (UNI) A host of secular organisations and individuals including Teesta Setalvad of Communalism Combat, Citizens for Justice and Peace, SAHMAT and John Dayal of All India Catholic Union have condemned the massacre of 35 people in Jammu and Kashmir.

''Such acts of motivated communal terror are aimed at erecting unbridgeable divides among people and societies and are a real threat to the secular fabric of our country'', they said in a joint statement.

They said the Government should ask the Minorities Commission to conduct public hearings in different parts of the country -- especially in sensitive states such as Jammu and Kashmir -- where citizens could depose about the daily conditions of their lives.

Fr Cedric Prakash of Prashant, Ahmedabad, Javed Anand of Muslims for Secular Democracy, Sushoba Barve of the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation and D Sherifa of Tamil Nadu Women's Jamaat were among others who condemned the incident.

In a separate statement, the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat of Syed Shahabuddin expressed ''deep concern'' at the ''brutal'' killings in Doda and Udhampur districts and of Indian engineer K Suryanarayana by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the All India Anti-Terrorist Front organised a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar here to protest the killings in Jammu and Kashmir and in Afghanistan.

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