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The Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, on Sunday said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had only highlighted the grim reality when he spoke about the atrocities committed on Muslims in Gujarat and elsewhere in India.
"No matter which country speaks about the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat, it is only speaking out the truth," Bukhari said in Hyderabad.
However, he recalled that it was Musharraf himself who had allowed the United States to commit "heinous atrocities and genocide against Muslims in Afghanistan".
The imam said Indian Muslims were suffering because of the activities of the Inter-Services Intelligence and other extremist outfits operating from Pakistan. "But organisations like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are beyond the control of General Musharraf himself," he said.
Blaming the US for cross-border terrorism in Kashmir, he said America was supplying arms to those who were promoting terrorism and also to those who were fighting against the menace. "Terrorist activity will cease the moment the US stops supporting both these groups," he contended.
He expressed concern over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan and claimed that war would not be a solution to the problem. "Indian Muslims will never compromise on territorial integrity of India, but the question is whether those in power are sincere in keeping the country united," he said, referring to carnage in Gujarat.
"If [Chief Minister] Narendra Modi and other enemies of Muslims let loose their terror gangs, no power can save India from disintegration," he warned.
The imam, who was on a two-day visit to Hyderabad, asserted that "faith binds together Muslims from east to west and north to south. It is nothing but natural that when Muslims in one part of the world suffer, Muslims all over the world feel the pain."
He also criticised the "state-sponsored terrorism" in Jammu and Kashmir.
"If the recent massacre of army personnel and their family members in Jammu was condemnable, so also are the mass killings and rapes in Gujarat. Don't have double standards and don't differentiate between the oppressed," he told the Centre.
Bukhari said Indian Muslims had no option but to form their own political party to protect themselves from Gujarat-type incidents. "Muslims have been forced to the wall and we have no option left but to defend ourselves," he remarked.
Indian Muslims, he alleged, had been suffering for five decades not just at the hands of enemies like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party, but also the so-called secular parties.
"From Congress to regional parties like Telugu Desam... all are blood-suckers of Muslims. They come to power with our votes but kill us or help those killing us," he said.
"Secularism is a farce in this country. No political party is secular. The only secular people are Muslims, who have been following the Hindu parties and Hindu leaders since Independence. But the time has come for us to have our own party," he said. The old leadership among Muslims had failed the community and it was time for them to retire and bless the young, he added.
Dubbing Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani as "fascists" for claiming that the genocide in Gujarat was a reaction to Godhra incident, he claimed that burning of the Sabarmati Express was a deep-rooted conspiracy by the Sangh Parivar outfits.
The Imam also lashed out at Telugu Desam for its "double standards" on Gujarat.
"[Chief Minister] Chandrababu Naidu has been claiming that he is a sympathiser of Muslims. If he was really sincere, he would not have helped our killers by abstaining from voting on [on the Gujarat issue in the Lok Sabha] and would have withdrawn his support," he said.
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