Letters: Assam violence

Assam violence

The way I3ndian Muslim leadership and the Indian leadership in general has articulated the massacre of Muslims in Assam is disturbing to every conscious human being. The Muslim and secular leadership in India has argued that the people living in Assam were not Bengali Muslims. They are the sons of the soil and hence they should not have been driven out of their homes or killed. The Hindu leadership led by the RSS and its political commentators have argued that Muslims in Assam are of Bengali origin and hence Bodos or locals have every right to kick them out of the land.
When a person’s worth and dignity are related to his or her birth, place of residence or the language spoken by people, then we definitely are in a long period of trouble. If the logic is that Muslims or for that matter a person of any religion should not be killed because he or she is from the land or that killing those who illegally entered a state is justified, then we cannot but expect violence for every minor or major difference every where in India. In fact, it was this thinking that created more than 10,000 violent pogroms against Muslims of India since independence culminating in their genocide in Gujarat in 2003.
Human life is sacred and it must be protected by those who are responsible for running the affairs of a country or a state. There is no ifs and buts here. Even if the people in Assam were of Bengali origin, they had every right to live and thrive.
Can Muslims or the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the apex body of Muslim states, file a case of violation of human rights against the central and state government of India? Can Muslim Indians living abroad think of developing a strategy to tackle these crimes beyond relief and emotional rhetoric? In order to take a principled stand on the issue, Muslim leadership must come strong against violence and in defense of human rights of everyone. They need to develop alliances at all levels to gather support for a non-violent approach to these issues. —Aslam Abdullah, Las Vegas, US

Wise message
May Allah Almighty bless and give the best reward to Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais for the precious thoughtful message he has given to Muslims all over the world (Aug. 10). Al-Sudais, imam of Haram in Makkah and head of the Presidency for Two Holy Mosques, called on all pilgrims and worshippers to uphold the sacredness of the two holy mosques. It is the duty of every believer to respect the sanctity of the two holy mosques, and cooperate with each other in this regard. He is absolutely right in his saying that all believers must keep away from activities that violate the holiness of the Two Holy Mosques, such as taking photos and chatting on mobile phones and women mingling with men, as all these are acts of transgression. Certainly we have to respect the Grand Mosques and switch off our mobile 3a reader, by e-mail