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Statements by Muslim religio-political leaders condemned

Over 100 Indians condemn Paris beheadings, deplore outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders

France teacher

Well over a hundred prominent Indians from diverse backgrounds have today issued a statement condemning the Paris beheadings and deploring the outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders. Among other things the statement read: “No God, gods, goddesses, prophets or saints may be invoked to justify the killing and/or terrorising of fellow human beings”.

The entire text of the statement may be read here:

We the undersigned unequivocally and unconditionally condemn the recent killings in France by two fanatics in the name of faith.

We are deeply disturbed by the convoluted logic of some self-appointed guardians of Indian Muslims in rationalising cold-blooded murder and deplore the outrageous remarks of some heads of state.

It has become the order of the day for all religious groups to indulge in whataboutery whenever such heinous crimes are committed by those belonging to their flock. Rationalising crimes by comparing them to similar crimes committed by others is an irrational and absurd argument as two wrongs don’t make a right.

We reject any ifs and buts in the justification of heinous crimes in the name of religion, any religion.

No God, gods, goddesses, prophets or saints may be invoked to justify the killing and/or terrorising of fellow human beings.

We stand in solidarity with the ‘French Council for the Muslim Faith’ for strongly condemning the attacks and issuing an appeal calling on all Muslims in France to “cancel all celebrations of the birthday of the Prophet as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims and their loved ones”.

Signatories:

1. Abdul Aziz Lokhandwala, Industrialist, Mumbai

2. Abhilasha Kumari, Researcher

3. Ahmad Rashid Sherwani, Hyderabad

4. AJ Jawad, Advocate, mediator, Chennai

5. Akbar Shaikh, Social activist, Sholapur

6. Amar Jesani, Medico Friends Circle, Mumbai

7. Amir Rizvi, Designer, Mumbai

8. Amita Joseph, Activist

9. Amitabh Mishra, Social Development Sector, Lucknow

10. Anand Patwardhan, Documentary film maker, Mumbai

11. Anil Dharker, Editor, columnist, writer, Mumbai

12. Anil Hebbar, Social Entrepreneur, Mumbai

13. Anil K Singh, Sansad, Delhi

14. Anil Trigunayat, Ambassador (rtd)

15. Anjum Rajabali, Screenwriter, Social Activist, Mumbai

16. Anurag Chaturvedi, journalist, Delhi

17. Anvar Rajan, Social activist, Pune

18. Anwar Hussain, Corporate executive, Mumbai

19. Arshad Alam, Columnist, educationist, Delhi

20. Askari Zaidi, Corporate Communications, Delhi

21. Bilal Khan, Social Activist, Mumbai

22. Bharti Sharma, Friends of Democracy, Mumbai

23. Cedric Prakash, Priest, Ahmedabad

24. Prof Chaman Lal, Rtd Prof JNU, Delhi

25. Charul Joshi, Political activist, Mumbai

26. Chayanika Shah, Queer Feminist Researcher, Mumbai   

27. Chhaya Datar, retd professor, feminist activist, Mumbai

28. Danish Javed, Lyricist, writer, producer, Mumbai

29. Dilip D’Souza, Writer, Mumbai

30. Dilip Simeon, Historian, Delhi

31. Dolphy D’Souza, Police Reforms Watch, Mumbai

32. Fahad Ahmad, PhD Scholar, TISS, Mumbai

33. Feroz Abbas Khan, Writer-director, Mumbai

34. Feroze Mithiborwala, President, Bharat Bachao Andolan, Mumbai

35. Gauhar Raza, Anhad, Delhi

36. Gautam Mody, Trade unionist and activist

37. Ghulam Mohiuddin, Physician, PIO, New York

38. Guddi, S.L., Yusuf Meherali Centre, Mumbai

39. Hasan Ibrahim Pasha, Writer, Allahabad

40. Hasan Kamaal, Editor, columnist, poet, Mumbai

41. Hasina Khan, Bebaak Collective, Mumbai

42. Henri Tiphagne, Advocate and human rights defender, Chennai

43. Hussain Haidri, Lyricist, Mumbai

44. Hussain Indorewala, Academic, Mumbai

45. Jamsheed Rizwani, Sete, France

46. Jatin Desai, Journalist, social activist, Mumbai

47. Javed Akhtar, Poet, films, former MP, Mumbai

48. Javed Anand, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD), Mumbai

49. John Dayal, Writer, activist, Delhi

50. Joycia Thorat, Ecumenical Activist

51. J.S. Bandukwala, Social Activist, Vadodara

52.  Julio F Ribeiro, IPS (retired), Mumbai

53. Jyoti Punwani, Journalist, Mumbai

54. Kabir Khan, Director, Mumbai

55. Dr Kamal Chenoy, Rtd Prof JNU, Delhi

56. Kamayani Bali Mahabal

57. Dr K L Sharma, University of Rajasthan

58. Kasim Sait, Businessman, Chennai

59. Kavita Srivastava, Civil liberties & human rights activist, Jaipur

60. Kirtika Singh, Advocate, Allahabad High Court

61. Kishore Jagtap, Dalit activist, Mumbai

62. Krishnakant Chauhan, Environmentalist and Activist

63. Krishnaswamy Kumar, Rtd Prof, Coimbatore

64. Lalita Ramdas, Social activist, Raigad

65. Lara Jesani, Advocate, Bombay High Court, Mumbai

66. Admiral L. Ramdas, retd Chief of Indian Navy, Raigad

67. Mallika Sarabhai, Theatre personality, Ahmedadad

68. Masooma Ranalvi, Co-Founder, India Lead|WeSpeakOut, Delhi

69. Medha Patkar, National Alliance of People’s Movements

70. Mihir Desai, Senior advocate, Bombay High Court

71. Mohammed Arif, Social activist, Varanasi

72. Mohammed Imran, Delhi/New York

73. Dr Mridula Mukherjee, Rtd Prof JNU, Delhi

74. Mukta Srivastav, Social Activist, Thane

75. Muniza Khan, Social activist, Varanasi

76. Mushfiq Khan, Film maker, Mumbai

77. Nandan Maluste, Finance, Mumbai

78. Nandita Bhawnani, Writer, Mumbai

79. Nandita Shah, Feminist activist, Mumbai

80. Naseeruddin Shah, Actor, Mumbai

81. Nasreen Fazalbhoy, Professor (retired), Mumbai

82. Niraja Jayal, JNU, Delhi

83. Nityanand Jayaraman, writer and social activist

84. Noorhehan Safia Niyaz, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Mumbai

85. Pramod Mujumdar, Social Activist, Mumbai

86. Prashant Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, Delhi

87. Qaisar Sultana, Home-maker, Allahabad

88. Dr Ram Puniyani, Author, social activist, Mumbai

89. Dr Ramesh Dixit, Rtd Prof Lucknow University, Lucknow

90. Rohit Prajapati, Environmentalist and human rights defender, Vadodara

91. Rukmini Sen, Journalist, Mumbai

92. Sabah Khan, Activist, Mumbai

93. Sachidanand Sinha, JNU, Delhi

94. Salim Sabuwala, Social activist, Mumbai

95. Sandeep Pandey, Academic, social activist, Lucknow

96. Sandhya Gokhale, Feminist activist, Mumbai

97. Prof. Sanjay MG, National Convenor, National Alliance of People’s Movements, Thane

98. Dr Satya Mohanty, former Secretary, Govt of India

99. Shabana Azmi, Actor, former MP, Mumbai

100.  Prof. Shafaat Khan, Marathi Playwright

101.   Shameela Zaidi, HR Manager, Mumbai

102.  Shikha Sen, Documentary editor

103.  Dr Saif Mahmood, Advocate, Supreme Court, Delhi

104.  Sajal Mittra, Rtd IAS

105.  Selvyn Jussy, University of Calcutta, Kolkata

106.  Shama Zaidi, Writer, documentary film maker, Mumbai 

107.  Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad, Delhi

108.  Dr Shahnawaz, Physician, Sultanpur

109.  Sitaram Prasad Singh, Theatre artist

110.  S N Sahu, former OSD to President of India

111.  Simantini Dhuru, Educationist, Mumbai

112.  Sohail Hashmi, Writer, film maker, Delhi

113.  Subhash Gatade, New Socialist Initiative, Delhi

114.  Sucheta Mahajan, Professor JNU, Delhi

115.  Sujata Gotaskar, Feminist activist and researcher, Mumbai

116.  Sukla Sen, Peace Activist, Mumbai

117.  Sumedh Jadhav, President, Republican Panther, Mumbai

118.  Suresh Sawant, President, Samvidhan Sanvardhan Samiti

119.  Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam, Delhi

120.  Dr Sunilam, Leader farmers & workers movement, Indore 

121.  Dr. Suresh Khairnar, Social Activist, Nagpur

122.  Swara Bhaskar, Actor, Mumbai

123.   Swatija M. Paranjape, Feminist activist, Mumbai

124.  Prof. Tahir Mahmood, Legal luminary, Delhi

125.  Dr Tarannum Siddiqui, Jamia Millia Islamia, Dehi

126.  Teesta Setalvad, Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai

127.  T.K. Arun, Consulting editor, The Economic Times

128.  Tushar Gandhi, Writer, activist, Mumbai

129.  Ujjwala Mhatre, Mumbai

130.  Prof Vasanthi Raman, Delhi

131.  Veena Gowda, Advocate, Mumbai

132.  Vibhuti Narain Rai, IPS (retired), Noida

133.  Vimla  Chand, Consumer advocate

134.  Vijay Krishna Acharya, Director, Mumbai

135.  Vishwas Utagi, Economist & Trade Union Leader, Mumbai

136.   Yoginder Yadav, Political Activist, academic, Delhi

137.  Dr. Zaheer Ahmed Sayeed, neuro-surgeon, Chennai

138.  Zaman Ali, Advocate

139.  Zaman Habib TV Writer-producer, Mumbai

140.  Zeenat Lakhani, Screenwriter, Mumbai

141.  Zeeshan Ayub, Actor, Mumbai

 

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