June 02, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1429

NEW DELHI, June 1: One of the largest Indian seminaries, which is said to have inspired the Taliban, has issued a fatwa against terrorism at a conference attended by thousands of clerics and students.

The Darul Uloom Deoband, a 150-year-old institute controlling thousands of smaller madressahs in the country, vowed to wipe out terrorism late on Saturday in New Delhi, an elderly rector said.

“Islam rejects all kinds of unjust violence, breach of peace, bloodshed, murder and plunder and does not allow it in any form,” Habibur Rehman, a senior rector said.

Teachings of the Deoband school and its strict interpretation of Islamic law have spread to many countries, including Britain and Afghanistan.

Thousands of clerics and students, wearing white caps and flowing spotless tunics, cheered as Maulana Rehman read out a statement: “The religion of Islam has come to wipe out all kinds of terrorism and to spread the message of global peace.”

Senior clerics chanted slogans against terrorism, and many held placards that said “Islam means peace” and “terrorism is an enemy – finish it”.

Leaders asked those gathered to pledge and fight terror in all forms, witnesses said.

Analysts described the conference as a significant step towards addressing terrorism and bringing relief to India’s 140 million Muslims, who feel the acts of some individuals were tarnishing the image of the community as a whole.

“It is an awakening among them (Muslim groups) to the dangers that face them as a fallout of terrorism and suspected association of terrorism with Muslims,” Pran Chopra, a political analyst said.

Indian Muslims have been implicated in bomb attacks in 2006 and a failed attack in Britain last year.

Last month, a group calling themselves ‘Indian Mujahideen’ claimed responsibility for a blast that killed 65 people in Rajasthan state.

The same group also criticised Muslim organisations in an email sent to various media houses last month.

Analysts say such threats were not making any impact as more and more religious groups were openly denouncing terrorism.

“The response by the Muslim population...has been worth noticing and the fatwa is a very welcome development,” Chopra said.

Muslims make up about 13 per cent of India’s officially secular but predominantly Hindu population – giving it the third largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan.

Religious leaders from different faiths voiced their support for the Deoband school’s stand on terrorism on Sunday.

—Reuters