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Home Minister P Chidambaram, while stressing the contributions made by Islam believers for developing modern India at the seminar of Islamic clerics and followers being held at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, said that India “cannot view Islam as an alien faith”.
"We cannot view Islam as an alien faith. Our Muslim brethren are honoured citizens of India. This is the land of your forbears; this is the land of your birth; and this is where you will live and work. It is a matter of pride for us that all major religions of the world, including Islam, exist and thrive in India," he said.
The annual conference of the seminary was attended by 500,000 people, including about 10,000 clerics.
"A nation can ignore its minorities only at its peril. The golden rule in a democracy is that it is the duty of the majority to protect the minority, be it religious, racial or linguistic. It is a self-evident rule. It is a rule that is firmly rooted in the universality of human rights," he said at the event which is being conducted by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.
Criticizing the explanations put forward by communalism, he said “The worst kind of communalism is unleashing communal violence. Violence and violent means to achieve any objective is the antithesis of a civilised society governed by the rule of law”.
"The demolition of the Babri Masjid was a manifestation of religious fanaticism and an act of extreme prejudice. Likewise, taking to the path of violence in the name of religion must also be deplored in unequivocal terms’, added the union minister.
