Caravan Desk
WASHINGTON DC — Indian Muslims of America have strongly condemned the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. In a dinner meeting on Sunday of about 200 members of the Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM), to observe the holy month of Ramadan in Washington DC, the members unanimously passed a resolution strongly condemning the horrible terrorist attack on civilians in a gay club in Orlando, Florida on June 11 by a terrorist who happened to be Muslim. It resulted in grievous loss of life of about 49 people and severe injuries to about 65 people. It is most galling that this individual perpetrated this gory violence in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when Muslims all over the world fast, pray and try to be on their best behavior.
Speaking on behalf of the congregation of Indian-American Muslims Kaleem Kawaja, the Executive Director of the Association invoked the basic teachings of Quran – the holy scripture of Muslims and Hadith- the sayings of Prophet Mohammad, wherein the scriptures have strongly enjoined Muslims to not commit violence to anyone with whom they may have any differences in the areas of religion, politics or social behavior. The scriptures advise Muslims that if they observe anyone indulging in acts that they perceive as objectionable, they are allowed to only convey their opinion to them, but under no circumstances use force for the same. And under no circumstances they are allowed to commit violence to civilians.
The assembly of Indian-American Muslims mourned the needless loss of lives of so many people and appealed to the US government to take strong and effective preemptive steps to root out acts of hate violence, random violence and terrorist actions. The Association pledged to cooperate with the US government agencies in this area.