NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday cited verses from the Koran and the Rig Veda while urging members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to “act together” to fight terror.
“Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes,” she said addressing the foreign ministers meeting of the 57-member grouping in Abu Dhabi, where she is invited as a guest of honour.
“But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion.”
A peevish Pakistan said it would not send its foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, to the meeting after its attempts to block Swaraj’s invitation were rejected.
In an obvious reference to Pakistan, Swaraj said, “If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorist camps and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country.”
At the same time, “I would like to say that this menace could not be fought, only through military, intelligence or diplomatic means,” she argued in her 17-minute address. “It is also a battle, that must be won through the strengths of our values, and the real message of religions. This is a task that states, societies, sages, scholars, spiritual leaders, and families must pursue, through contacts and on social media.”
Pledging to work with the grouping, she said that “At 50, the OIC is making a new beginning. The choices you make, the direction you set, will have a profound impact on humanity. The OIC has a huge responsibility and a great opportunity to lift humanity to a higher level of peace...”
Despite having the world ’s second largest population of Muslims, India’s membership of the grouping has been blocked by Pakistan’s opposition on the ground that it is not an official Islamic State and because it was involved in a dispute over Kashmir.