US based Indian American group denounces terrorist attacks in Mumbai

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 27, 2008

Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA: http://www.imc-usa.org), an advocacy group dedicated towards safeguarding India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos, denounces in strongest possible terms the terror attacks in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. IMC-USA empathizes with the families of victims, hostages and police officers killed in the attacks and hopes for the safe release of the hostages.

According to reports, a series of bomb blasts and shootings in the city’s main train station, a hospital, luxury hotels and tourist attractions have killed and injured more than one hundred people. Dozens, many of them foreign tourists, are also reportedly taken hostage by these armed groups of young men at different locations. Several police personnel including Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare were also killed and many more injured while engaging the militants. Rasheed Ahmed, President of IMC-USA said: “The perpetrators of these crimes against humanity should be captured and punished to the maximum extent of the law.”

IMC-USA calls on the Indian government to find ways to increase the safety and security of ordinary citizens as well as provide immediate and adequate compensation to all the victims of this carnage. Recent years have witnessed an alarming growth in the number of groups committing mindless acts of violence against innocent civilians. In the past few months alone there has been a string of bomb blasts in many cities, ethnic cleansing and targeting of minorities, police harassment and scapegoating of innocent civilians and fake encounter killings. “The Home Minister is responsible for this widespread deterioration of law & order and security situation and should be held accountable”, stated Rasheed Ahmed.

The current attack also highlights the lapse in the intelligence gathering of the different law enforcement agencies. “More than two dozen terrorists seem to have let loose a string of blasts and shootings in different locations; a coordinated attack on this scale with the number of people involved points to a major failure on the part of the intelligence agencies”, he further added.

IMC-USA also calls on the Indian government to setup a high level commission to investigate the increasing scourge of violence and terrorism in the country and ways to engage the civil society in effectively curbing this menace.

Indian Muslim Council-USA is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with 10 chapters across the nation.

CONTACT:
Dr. Hyder Khan
phone/fax:1-800-839-7270
email: media@imc-usa.org