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Ph.: 630.629.7490 – Fax: 630.629.7492
PRESS
RELEASE
Chicago - Saturday March 9, 2002
CHICAGO MUSLIMS CONDEMN ONGOING
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE, MASSACRE OF MUSLIMS, DESTRUCTION OF
MOSQUES, AND TERRORISM AGAINST ETHNIC MINORITIES IN INDIA
The Council of
Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (a Federation of
over 40 Islamic centers, schools & institutions
representing over 400,000 area Muslims) calls for forceful
Governmental intervention in India to halt escalating
communal violence and targeted killings of Muslims and
other minorities, including Christians. Muslim Americans
strongly condemn these acts of terrorism by militant
Hindus in India, predominantly in the state of Gujarat. In
just the past fortnight, over 1,000 innocent men, women
and children have been tortured, burned alive, raped or
massacred; over 350 Mosques as well as some Christian
missions and churches have been vandalized or burned down;
over 100,000 people have been rendered homeless; and tens
of thousands are struggling for survival in make-shift
camps.
Muslim Americans all
over Chicago and the United States also unequivocally
condemn the atrocious actions of some Muslims-albeit
provoked by hooliganism, pulling of headscarves off Muslim
women, brutal beating of an elderly Muslim and abduction
of his teenage daughter-in violently retaliating against
Hindu militants and setting their train on fire in the
town of Ghodra in Gujarat. We deplore these unjustifiable
actions and the resultant loss of lives. Outrageously,
this tragic incident is being used by Hindu militant
groups in India as an excuse to escalate their national
agenda of religious cleansing and terrorism against
Muslim, Christian, Sikh and other religious minorities.
Chicago's Muslim
Americans and the Council's congregations are deeply
concerned about the fate of their families, friends and
loved ones in India who have been victimized by the riots.
Muslim Americans are particularly shocked and saddened by
the wide disregard for human life displayed by the Indian
government and law enforcement officials. The Council
appeals to the Indian authorities and urges President Bush
to act on these concerns of Americans and ensure that the
Indian Government assumes immediate responsibility to: (1)
actively safeguard all citizens, regardless of religious
affiliation, against further terrorist attacks and
communal violence, (2) swiftly prosecute the responsible
criminals and shut down the terrorist groups masterminding
this communal violence, and (3) promptly issue just
compensation to the victims' families for their loss of
life and property. The Council also urges the U.S. to push
for an independent commission of inquiry, possibly under
guidance of the United Nations and/or international human
rights organizations, to thoroughly investigate and
document the tragic loss of lives and property and the
ongoing terrorism aimed at religious cleansing of Muslims
and other minorities in India, and propose means to avoid
such communal violence in the future.
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