Muslims and Hindus can together wage Jihad against social evils: A S Puthige

Udupi, June 17: In India the number of people killed in police custody and fake encounters is multiple times more than the number of victims of terrorism, pointed out senior journalist Abdussalam Puthige.

Responding to queries over the relationship between religion and terrorism, at a `Sneha Samvada', a convention on communal harmony organised by Forum For Humanity, in association with, Lions, Rotary and Jaycee organisations at Ammani Ramanna Shetty hall here on Sunday, Mr Puthige said there is solution for the complete eradication of terrorism in Islam.

Quoting the Qur'anic verse “…if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people…”, the former leader of Students' Islamic Organisation of India questioned how could a religion that carries such a message promote terrorism.

Lamenting over the global attempts to compare Islam with terrorism, Mr Puthige said that every individual Islamic scholar strongly condemns the terrorism. “There have been differences of opinions among Islamic scholars in many issues. However, when it comes to opposing terrorism, there is no difference of opinion among Islamic scholars”, he said.

Recalling the barbaric incidents like the Mongol destruction of Baghdad and post 9/11 invasion of Iraq by US-led army, which killed around 15 lakh innocent people, he regretted that no one called these massacres as terrorism.

Defining the Islamic concept of 'Jihad' as an honest struggle against all kinds of social evils, he said that Muslims and Hindus together could wage Jihad against evils like alcoholism.

Presiding over the programme, Karnataka State Wakf Board member and Sunni leader NKM Shafi Saadi, said that all religions preachers humanity.

“No one can show even a single word promoting terrorism in the holy Qur'an. Instead, it advises the followers to respect the gods and goddesses of other religions too”, he said.

“Prophet Muhammad advised the Muslims to love human beings to be at the mercy of Allah. He never said to love a Muslim,” Mr Saadi pointed out.

He also called upon the people of twin coastal districts – Dakshina Kannada and Udupi – to get rid of communal clashes.

In his inaugural address Rotary District Governor HL Ravi opined that without changes even religions and communities will be like stagnant water. “To bring in positive changes in the religion we need to change our mind for the better. Develop scientific temperament in your children. They will surely become acceptable by the society”, he said.

Former SIO Karnataka state president Muhammed Yasin Malpe, Lions District Governor Jayakar Shetty Indrali, President of Forum For Humanity Abdulla Parkala and Mohammed Moula were present among others.