India’s Muslim leaders decry anti-Christian attacks

(September 20, 2010) Top Muslim leaders have met an Indian cardinal to express regret over attacks on Christian institutions after alleged Qur’an desecration incidents in the United States. They also commended Cardinal Oswald Gracias Archbishop of Bombay for his condemnation of the desecrations, which allegedly took place in some parts of the US on Sept. 11, the anniversary of terrorist attacks in the country. Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi, general secretary of the All India Ulema Council said he and a group of Muslim leaders met the cardinal Sept. 16 at his office and “thanked him for condemning the tearing of the holy Qur’an in the US.” Cardinal Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, in a Sept. 13 statement, had criticized these acts and said he was “deeply saddened” to learn about them. Maulana Mehmood said the cardinal’s “quick responses promote and sustain communal harmony in a country torn by religious differences and strife.” The Muslim leaders also expressed regret over attacks on some Christian institutions in the Punjab and Kashmir areas following news of the desecrations, he said. Muslim mobs set fire to a Christian school in Tangmarg in Kashmir on Sept. 13 while mobs attacked a Church in Malerkotla in Punjab state forcing police to impose a curfew there. Other Muslim leaders who met the cardinal included D.A. Azimuddin, president of the Movement for Human Welfare; M.A. Khalid, secretary of the All India Milli Council; and Farid Batatawala, president of the Muslim United Front.