Indian Muslims for
Secular Democracy
Press Release
October 31,
2020
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”.
Here below
is the full text of the statement:
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. Anand Patwardhan, Documentary film maker,
Mumbai
9. Anil Dharker, Editor, columnist, writer,
Mumbai
10. Anil
Hebbar, Social Entrepreneur, Mumbai
11. Anil K
Singh, Insaaf, Delhi
12. Anjum
Rajabali, Screenwriter, Social Activist, Mumbai
13. Anurag
Chaturvedi, journalist, Delhi
14. Anvar
Rajan, Social activist, Pune
15. Anwar
Hussain, Corporate executive, Mumbai
16. Arshad
Alam, Columnist, educationist, Delhi
17. Askari
Zaidi, Corporate Communications, Delhi
18. Bilal
Khan, Social Activist, Mumbai
19. Bharti
Sharma, Mumbai
20. Cedric
Prakash, Priest, Ahmedabad
21. Prof
Chaman Lal, Rtd Prof JNU, Delhi
22. Charul
Joshi, Political activist, Mumbai
23.
Chayanika Shah, Queer Feminist Researcher, Mumbai
24. Chhaya
Datar, retd professor, feminist activist, Mumbai
25. Danish
Javed, Lyricist, writer, producer, Mumbai
26. Dilip
D’Souza, Writer, Mumbai
27. Dilip
Simeon, Historian, Delhi
28. Dolphy
D’Souza, Police Reforms Watch, Mumbai
29. Fahad
Ahmad, PhD Scholar, TISS, Mumbai
30. Feroz
Abbas Khan, Writer-director, Mumbai
31. Feroze
Mithiborwala, President, Bharat Bachao Andolan, Mumbai
32. Gauhar
Raza, Anhad, Delhi
33. Ghulam
Mohiuddin, Physician, PIO, New York
34. Guddi,
S.L., Yusuf Meherali Centre, Mumbai
35. Hasan
Ibrahim Pasha, Writer, Allahabad
36. Hasan
Kamaal, Editor, columnist, poet, Mumbai
37. Hasina
Khan, Bebaak Collective, Mumbai
38. Henri
Tiphagne, Advocate and human rights defender, Chennai
39. Hussain
Haidri, Lyricist, Mumbai
40. Hussain
Indorewala, Academic, Mumbai
41.
Jamsheed Rizwani, Sete, France
42. Jatin
Desai, Journalist, social activist, Mumbai
43. Javed
Akhtar, Poet, films, former MP, Mumbai
44. Javed
Anand, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD), Mumbai
45. John
Dayal, Writer, activist, Delhi
46. Joycia
Thorat, Ecumenical Activist
47. J.S. Bandukwala,
Social Activist, Vadodara
48. Julio F Ribeiro, IPS (retired), Mumbai
49. Jyoti
Punwani, Journalist, Mumbai
50. Kabir
Khan, Director, Mumbai
51.
Kamayani Bali Mahabal
52. Dr K L
Sharma, University of Rajasthan
53. Kasim
Sait, Businessman, Chennai
54. Kavita
Srivastava, Civil liberties & human rights activist, Jaipur
55. Kirtika
Singh, Advocate, Allahabad High Court
56. Kishore
Jagtap, Dalit activist, Mumbai
57.
Krishnakant Chauhan, Environmentalist and Activist
58.
Krishnaswamy Kumar, Rtd Prof, Coimbatore
59. Lara
Jesani, Advocate, Bombay High Court, Mumbai
60. Mallika
Sarabhai, Theatre personality, Ahmedadad
61. Masooma
Ranalvi, Co-Founder, India Lead|WeSpeakOut, Delhi
62. Medha
Patkar, National Alliance of People's Movements
63. Mihir
Desai, Senior advocate, Bombay High Court
64.
Mohammed Arif, Social activist, Varanasi
65.
Mohammed Imran, Delhi/New York
66. Dr
Mridula Mukherjee, Rtd Prof JNU, Delhi
67. Mukta
Srivastav, Social Activist, Thane
68. Muniza
Khan, Social activist, Varanasi
69. Mushfiq
Khan, Film maker, Mumbai
70. Nandan
Maluste, Finance, Mumbai
71. Nandita
Bhawnani, Writer, Mumbai
72. Nandita
Shah, Feminist activist, Mumbai
73.
Naseeruddin Shah, Actor, Mumbai
74. Nasreen
Fazalbhoy, Professor (retired), Mumbai
75. Niraja
Jayal, JNU, Delhi
76.
Noorhehan Safia Niyaz, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Mumbai
77. Pramod
Mujumdar, Social Activist, Mumbai
78.
Prashant Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, Delhi
79. Qaisar
Sultana, Home-maker, Allahabad
80. Dr Ram
Puniyani, Author, social activist, Mumbai
81. Dr
Ramesh Dixit, Rtd Prof Lucknow University, Lucknow
82. Rohit
Prajapati, Environmentalist and human rights defender, Vadodara
83.
Sachidanand Sinha, JNU, Delhi
84. Salim
Sabuwala, Social activist, Mumbai
85. Sandeep
Pandey, Academic, social activist, Lucknow
86. Sandhya
Gokhale, Feminist activist, Mumbai
87. Prof.
Sanjay MG, National Convenor, National Alliance of People's Movements, Thane
88. Dr
Satya Mohanty, former Secretary, Govt of India
89. Shabana
Azmi, Actor, former MP, Mumbai
90. Prof.
Shafaat Khan, Marathi Playwright
91. Shameela Zaidi, HR Manager, Mumbai
92. Shikha
Sen, Documentary editor
93. Dr Saif
Mahmood, Advocate, Supreme Court, Delhi
94. Sajal
Mittra, Rtd IAS
95. Selvyn
Jussy, University of Calcutta, Kolkata
96. Shama Zaidi,
Writer, documentary film maker, Mumbai
97. Shabnam
Hashmi, Anhad, Delhi
98. Dr
Shahnawaz, Physician, Sultanpur
99. Sitaram
Prasad Singh, Theatre artist
100. S N Sahu, former OSD to
President of India
101. Simantini Dhuru,
Educationist, Mumbai
102. Sohail Hashmi, Writer,
film maker, Delhi
103. Subhash Gatade, New
Socialist Initiative, Delhi
104. Sucheta Mahajan, Professor
JNU, Delhi
105. Sujata Gotaskar, Feminist activist and
researcher, Mumbai
106. Sukla Sen, Peace Activist,
Mumbai
107. Sumedh Jadhav, President,
Republican Panther, Mumbai
108. Suresh Sawant, President,
Samvidhan Sanvardhan Samiti
109. Sultan Shahin, Editor, New
Age Islam, Delhi
110. Dr Sunilam, Leader farmers
& workers movement, Indore
111. Dr. Suresh Khairnar,
Social Activist, Nagpur
112. Swara Bhaskar, Actor, Mumbai
113. Swatija M. Paranjape,
Feminist activist, Mumbai
114. Prof. Tahir Mahmood, Legal
luminary, Delhi
115. Dr Tarannum Siddiqui,
Jamia Millia Islamia, Dehi
116. Teesta Setalvad, Citizens
for Justice and Peace, Mumbai
117. T.K. Arun, Consulting
editor, The Economic Times
118. Tushar Gandhi, Writer,
activist, Mumbai
119. Ujjwala Mhatre, Mumbai
120. Prof Vasanthi Raman, Delhi
121. Veena Gowda, Advocate,
Mumbai
122. Vibhuti Narain Rai, IPS
(retired), Noida
123. Vimla Chand, Consumer advocate
124. Vijay Krishna Acharya,
Director, Mumbai
125. Vishwas Utagi, Economist
& Trade Union Leader, Mumbai
126. Yoginder Yadav, Political
Activist, academic, Delhi
127. Dr. Zaheer Ahmed Sayeed,
neuro-surgeon, Chennai
128. Zaman Habib TV
Writer-producer, Mumbai
129. Zeenat Lakhani,
Screenwriter, Mumbai
130. Zeeshan Ayub, Actor,
Mumbai
For further information please contact: Javed Anand
(9870402556).
--
Javed Anand
Convener, Indian Muslims for Secular
Democracy (IMSD)
www.imsd.in
Trustee, Citizens for Justice and Peace
Co-editor, Sabrang India Online
www.sabrangindia.in
+919870402556
+91-22-26602288
Address: Nirant, Juhu Tara Road, Juhu
Mumbai 400049, India
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