ICNE calls for the end of hostilities in Pakistan and India
“In the name of Allah, the most Merciful and Most Compassionate.
The Islamic Council of New England (ICNE) expresses its distress over the expanding conflict between India and Pakistan. This conflict has been festering since 1947, and again in 1965 and 1999, over the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Recent, increasingly Islamophobic rhetoric in India has stoked tensions provoking unrestrained violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in both Kashmir and India
The increased use of military force by either India or Pakistan, both of which are nuclear powers, risks escalating the conflict into a regional conflagration with serious worldwide consequences. Inflamed rhetoric between two parties in a conflict results only in more hostility. We pray the parties will de-escalate their tensions through moderation and patience, both of which are Islamic principles. At the same time, we decry the targeting of innocent civilians as a crime against humanity and recall a verse in the Quran (5:32), “whoever takes a life unjustly is as if he has killed all humanity.” We fervently plead for a halt on all attacks on civilians.
ICNE notes that descendants of both India and Pakistan, representing multiple religions, live and work together harmoniously in New England, and in the United States in general. ICNE, therefore, calls on all affected parties and individuals to remind our political leaders, both here and in India and Pakistan, to exercise restraint and work towards peaceful coexistence.
We reject all forms of hostile generalizations used by any source against peace-abiding Muslims anywhere in the world. We ask our regional representatives to call for the end of hostilities in Pakistan and India. We call on Allah to give forbearance to the world’s leaders and to increase our patience towards each other.”