New York: Muslim Alliance Against Religious and Ultranationalist Terrorism (MAARUT), a network of Muslim peace activists, condemns in the strongest terms the despicable terrorist bombing at the Istanbul airport that took the lives of more than three dozens innocent people and injured more than 125.
Dr. Shaik Ubaid, the national coordinator of MAARUT, issued the following statement:
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families and will offer special prayers for them during our Ramadan prayer services.
We stand in solidarity with the Turkish nation that has been the target of terrorists attacks both from the religious fanatics such as ISIS and from the ultranationalist separatists. The Turkish people had been generous hosts of more than a million Syrian refugees and have been in the forefront of helping displaced people in far away lands such as in Burma and Somalia.
These terrorist attacks must open the eyes of those gullible people in the US whose economic and demographic insecurities are being exploited by Donald Trump and other right wing Republican leaders as well as the neoconservatives to spread Islamophobia in the US. The primary victims of terrorism by ISIS, Al Qaeda, Assad’s Shabeeha of Syria, Mehdi Army in Iraq, Taliban and other religious fanatics have been Muslims. This is because Muslim masses and mainstream Muslim leaders are in the forefront of the fight against terrorism.
Terrorism is a human problem and is not limited to Muslims. What is unique is that Muslims fight against their terrorists. The Buddhist terrorist groups in Burma (Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, the Hindu terrorist groups in India, the right wing Jewish Settlers in the West Bank and the right wing Christian extremists in the US and Europe are not being confronted by their governments. It is about time that the whole world unite against religious and ultranationalist terrorism.”