September 4, 2004
Press Statement
MSD
condemns the barbaric massacre in Beslan
We are at a
complete loss for words to express our mixed feelings of shock,
horror and outrage at the barbaric and heinous massacre of young
girls and boys, along with other innocents in a school at Beslan
in Russia. Traumatised as we feel looking at the picture of
those tender lives snuffed away so brutally, we can well imagine
the grief of mothers, fathers, siblings, relations and other
fellow Russians from Beslan and the rest of the country. We have
no words but our hearts go out to all of them at this
gut-wrenching moment.
Some
reports suggest that the hostage may have turned into a
bloodbath because of some misadventure or miscalculation on the
part of the Chechen rebels or Russian rescue troops. But that
cannot take away from the fact that the Chechen rebels and their
accomplices alone are responsible for having held hundreds of
school children, parents and teachers as hostages in the first
place.
We
unequivocally denounce the targeting of innocents anytime,
anywhere, by any organisation, irrespective of how justified or
lofty their cause may be. Only a few days ago, our relief at the
release of Indians held hostages in Iraq was mixed with
indignation at the killing of Nepalese who were also held as
hostages.
Those
responsible for the Beslan massacre are guilty of a crime
against humanity and must be condemned as such by peace-loving
and justice-minded people across the globe. At the forefront of
the protest, however, must be Muslim organisations and
individuals, for the perpetrators of the dastardly crime claim
to be fighters in the cause of Islam, a religion that
categorically forbids the taking of even a single innocent life
and prohibits the targeting not only of civilians but
also their property even in times of war.
Javed
Akhtar
President
Gulam
Mohammed Peshimam
Convenor
