Dalai Lama speaks up for Muslims

Mon, Jun 2 01:40 AM

The Dalai Lama on Sunday said it was wrong to brand all Muslims as terrorists, adding that the anti-terrorism campaign spearheaded by Muslim leaders of India could be a model for the world. The Tibetan leader spoke at a day-long international anti-terrorism conference organised by the non-profit, Jama Masjid United Forum (JMUF), in New Delhi.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama prays at the Jama Maszid, or Mosque, in New Delhi, India, Sunday, June 1, 2008. The Dalai Lama during an international conference on terrorism on Sunday said that the international community needs to deal with the root causes of terrorism and it is wrong to brand all Muslims as militants.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The JMUF conclave, attended by two dozen foreign religious and scholars, comes a day after 1 lakh Muslim clerics took a solemn pledge to fight terror under a fatwa issued by influential seminary, Darul Uloom of Deoband and Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind. At the conference, leaders from across the world called for an "unbiased approach" towards terror to tackle it.

Terror would continue to be a scourge unless its causes were addressed, they said. The Dalai Lama also made a historic first trip to the Capital's Jama Masjid, where he participated in a special prayer for world peace.

Union minister for science and technology, Kapil Sibal said "politicisation" of terror was adding fuel to fire and urged nations to resist from seeking narrow gains from terrorism. He did not elaborate on this.

Led by Syed Yahya Bukhari, the historic Jama Masjid's cleric secretariat is the latest religious centre to join an expanding campaign by Muslim leaders against terrorism. Bukhari said, "We condemn all forms of terrorism.

Let us make no distinction and terrorism should not be associated with any religion."The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Ahmed Bukhari, told the HT that oppression by government agencies was as much a terror manifestation as any other.

The demolition of Babri Masjid and Gujarat riots were also acts of terror, just like 9/11, he said.