130 Indians Including Julio F Ribeiro, Shabana Azmi Condemn France Attack, Call Out Religious Leaders Whataboutery

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130 Indians Including Julio F Ribeiro, Shabana Azmi Condemn France Attack, Call Out Religious Leaders' Whataboutery

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The 130 Indian issued a joint statement against rationalising crimes by comparing them to similar crimes committed by others is no less than an absurd argument, and there can be no justification for such a heinous crime.

Over 100 Indians from diverse backgrounds including former IPS officer Julio F Ribeiro, Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, actors Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, lyricist Javed Akhtar, write-activist Tushar Gandhi on Saturday unanimously issued a statement condemning the knife attack in France in the name of faith.

They also slammed the statements made by some political leaders 'rationalising' the gruesome murders, referring to Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad's comments and some Muslim religious leaders.

Among the 130 signatories of the statement are actors Swara Bhasker, Zeeshan Ayyub, writer-director Feroz Abbas Khan, director Kabir Khan, screenwriter Anjum Rajabali, documentary film-maker Anand Patwardhan, industrialist Abdul Aziz Lokhandwala and various others.

"We are deeply disturbed by the convoluted logic of some self-appointed guardians of Indian Muslims in rationalising cold-blooded murder and deplore the outrageous remarks of some heads of state," read the statement as quoted by Outlook.

It has now become the order of the day for all religious groups to indulge in 'whataboutery' whenever such heinous crimes are committed by those belonging to their flock, the statement further read.

The signatories stated that rationalising crimes by comparing them to similar crimes committed by others is no less than an absurd argument, and there can be no justification for such a heinous crime.

"No God, gods, goddesses, prophets or saints may be invoked to justify the killing and terrorising of fellow human beings," the statement added.

The group expressed solidarity with the French Council for the Muslim Faith for strongly denouncing the attacks. The Council urged all Muslims in France to cancel all celebrations on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the Prophet as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims and their loved ones.

Three people were killed in a knife attack on October 29, at a church in the French city of Nice. Following the attacker identified by French media as Brahim Moussaoui was shot in the shoulder by police and taken to hospital.

President Emmanuel Macron called the attack as an 'Islamist terrorist attack'. The France police described the incident as a 'vision of horror'. Nice mayor, Christian Estrosi, described the attack as terrorism.

Justifying the attack, Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that "Muslims have a right to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past".

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Writer : Devyani Madaik

Editor : Shubhendu Deshmukh

Creatives : Vijay S Hegde

France attacks

130 Indians Including Julio F Ribeiro, Shabana Azmi Condemn France Attack, Call Out Religious Leaders' Whataboutery

Writer: Devyani Madaik

Devyani Madaik

India, 1 Nov 2020 10:21 AM GMT | Updated 2 Nov 2020 6:46 AM GMTcheck update history

Editor : Shubhendu Deshmukh |

Shubhendu Deshmukh

Creatives : Vijay S Hegde

Vijay S Hegde

The 130 Indian issued a joint statement against rationalising crimes by comparing them to similar crimes committed by others is no less than an absurd argument, and there can be no justification for such a heinous crime.

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