About the Video: This event took
place in Mumbai in front of a jam packed crowd, at the Shanmukhananda
auditorium
on 11th Sept 2006. Dr. Zakir Naik also gave a similar lecture at Jeddah
in the
last week of September, 2006.
Dr. Zakir Naik said that historic records proved that a large number of
terrorist acts in the 20th and 21st century were committed by
non-Muslims. The
so-called global phenomenon of "Islamic terrorism/militant Islam" was
a creation of the western governments and their media outlets, he said.
"Politics lies at the heart of labeling Muslims across the globe as
perpetrators of terror acts, " he added.
Dr. Zakir, who is one of the Muslim world's leading and most prolific
speakers,
quoted from the scriptures of other religions and proved that
associating
killing with Islam is incorrect.
"It says in the Book of Numbers that whoever worships other than God
should
be killed, " he said, referring to the Bible, yet such militant verses
were
conveniently ignored by the Western media.
"In every religion there are black sheep and the media keep putting
these
people forward. This is a media conspiracy and a way of pushing people
away from
Islam." he added.
Dr. Zakir Naik said, "No religion encourages terrorist acts or
violence.
The word 'Islam' itself means 'Peace, obtained by submitting yourself
to the
Almighty'. Anyone, be it Muslim or non-Muslim, who kills an innocent
Muslim or a
non-Muslim, kills the entire humanity. However, Islam goes a step
further to say
that if one saves innocent lives, the whole of humanity is saved.
Injustice is
the root cause of terrorism..."
He continued, "Palestinians are called terrorists just because they are
fighting to get their land back." By citing examples of LTTE (in Sri
Lanka), IRA (in UK), Lord's Salvation Army, which trains the young
children to
conduct terrorist attacks, and many other non-Muslim terrorist outfits
he
further said that, the lives claimed by these outfits are more than the
ones by
the Muslim terrorists.
Dr. Zakir said Naxalites/Maoists across India and the LTTE in Sri Lanka
were
non- Muslim terror organisations, which had had developed pan regional
bases
beyond national boundaries. Other such non-Muslim terror outfits
included the
United Liberation Front of Asom, National Democratic Front of Bodoland
and All
Tripura Tiger Force in the Northeast, Naik noted.
Drawing on international examples, Dr. Zakir said that the Japanese Red
Army,
Lord's Salvation Army and the ETA in Spain were also non-Islamic in
character
and composition.
"So nothing is more removed from truth as to suggest that Muslims have
monopolized terrorism, " said Dr. Naik. He said the Irish Republican
Army,
which was considered to be terrorist group, has a history of 100 years
of
violence against the British, but the British government doesn't seem
to be
scared about them as they are about radical Islamic groups.
Besides, he also mentioned, "Even a single killing by a Muslim is
condemned
by Islam, whatsoever the reasons."
On the Media, Judiciary and Politicians
Dr. Zakir appreciated the Indian media for being unbiased and upright
while
reporting the communal riots. He further expressed that it is the plot
of the
Western media to destroy Muslims.
He also said that the media controlled by the political authorities is
biased
and does not portray the truth or reality. He stated, "Islam does not
justify using wrong means to reach the right goals. People should not
take the
law in their hands."
"India has seen maximum number of communal riots in recent years.
Politicians have been using the 'Divide and Rule Policy' to secure
their vote
banks. However, the masses should not get instigated by them. Terrorism
is a
monopoly of politicians. People, regardless of their religion, wish to
live
harmonious lives, but politicians feed the feeling of hatred amongst
them,
" he opined while speaking about the role of politicians in the society
today.
We should learn how to turn the tables and convey the real meaning, "
said
Dr. Zakir, while calling on Muslims to dispel the media's vilifying of
Muslims
and the importance of having Muslim television channels and newspapers.
''All
Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.'' This
comment, frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that
terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very
different.
[ALL
CHRISTIAN PEOPLE ARE NOT BAD PEOPLE (TERRORISTS), BUT ALL CHRISTIAN
COUNTRIES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MOST DEATHS WORLWIDE CAUSED BY
DROPPING THE BIGGEST (ATOM) BOMBS IN THEIR ARSENALS].
In fact, based on the history of mankind during the last few thousand years,the Christians are the biggest TERRORISTS in the world so far.
First, there is nothing new about terrorism. In 1881,anarchistskilledthe Russian Tsar Alexander II and 21 bystanders. In 1901,anarchistskilledUS President McKinley as well as King Humbert I of Italy. World War Istarted in 1914 whenanarchistskilled Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.These TERRORIST attacks were not Muslim.
Terrorism is generally defined as the killing of civilians for political reasons.Going by this definition, the British Raj referred toBhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azadand many other Indian freedom fighters as TERRORISTS.These were Hindu and Sikh rather than Muslim.
Guerrilla fighters fromMao Zedong to Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castrokilled civilians during their revolutionary campaigns. They too were called TERRORISTS until they triumphed.Nothing Muslim about them.
In Palestine, after World War II, Jewish groups (the Haganah, Irgun and Stern Gang)
fought for the creation of a Jewish state, bombing hotels and
installations and killing civilians. The British, who then governed
Palestine, rightly called these Jewish groups TERRORISTS. Many of these
TERRORISTS later became leaders of independent Israel -Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon.
Ironically, these former TERRORISTS then lambasted terrorism, applying
this label only to Arabs fighting for the very same nationhood that the
Jews had fought for earlier.
In Germany in 1968-92,the Baader-Meinhoff Gangkilled dozens, including the head ofTreuhand, the German privatization agency. In Italy,the Red Brigadeskidnapped and killed Aldo Moro, former prime minister.
The Japanese Red Armywas an Asian version of this. Japan was also the home ofAum Shinrikyo, a Buddhist cult that tried to kill thousands in the Tokyo metro system using nerve gas in 1995.
In Europe,the Irish Republican Army(IRA) has been a Catholic TERRORIST organization for almost a century. Spain and France face a TERRORIST challenge fromETA, the Basque TERRORIST organization.
Africa is ravaged by so much civil war and internal strife that few
people even bother to check which groups can be labeled TERRORIST. They
stretch across the continent. Possibly the most notorious is theLord's Salvation Armyin Uganda, a Christian outfit that uses children as warriors.
In Sri Lanka,the Tamil Tigershave
long constituted one of the most vicious and formidable TERRORIST
groups in the world. They were the first to train children as
TERRORISTS. They happen to be Hindus. Suicide bombing is widely
associated with Muslim Palestinians and Iraqis, but the Tamil Tigers
were the first to use this tactic on a large scale. One such suicide
bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
In India, the militants in Kashmir are Muslim. But they are only one of several militant groups.The Punjab militants, led by Bhindranwale, were Sikhs.The United Liberation Front of Assamis
a Hindu TERRORIST group that targets Muslims rather than the other way
round. Tripura has witnessed the rise and fall of several TERRORIST
groups, and so have Bodo strongholds in Assam.Christian Mizosmounted an insurrection for decades, andChristian Nagasare still heading militant groups.
But most important of all arethe MaoistTERRORIST groups that now existin
no less than 150 out of India’s 600 districts. They have attacked
police stations, and killed and razed entire villages that oppose them.
These are secular TERRORISTS (likethe Baader Meinhof Gang or Red Brigades). In terms of membership and area controlled,secularTERRORISTS are far ahead of Muslim TERRORISTS.
In sum, terrorism is certainly not a Muslim monopoly.
There are or have been TERRORIST groups among Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and even Buddhists. Secular TERRORISTS (Anarchists, Maoists) have been the biggest killers.
Why
then is there such a widespread impression that most or all TERRORIST
groups are Muslim? I see two reasons. First, the Indian elite keenly
follow the western media, and the West feels under attack from Islamic
groups.Catholic IrishTERRORISTS
have killed far more people in Britain than Muslims, yet the subway
bombings in London and Madrid are what Europeans remember today.The Baader Meinhof Gang, IRA and Red Brigadesno longer pose much ofa
threat, but after 9/11 Americans and Europeans fear that they could be
hit anywhere anytime. So they focus attention on Islamic militancy.
They pay little notice to other forms of terrorism in Africa, Sri Lanka
or India: these pose no threat to the West.