Extremists Cannot Be Linked To A Specific Religion, J-K Governor Tells Clerics

TheLieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said radicalization should not be associated with a specific religion.

However, he said, there is a need for Islamic scholars to formulate a policy and a process to prevent a person exposed to a violent ideology from getting radicalized.

Sinha was speaking during the "Confluence of Religious Leaders in Kashmir” Conference in Srinagar. A government spokesperson said a large number of Moulvis and Muftis and women participated in the program. However, participants were forced to remove their traditional pheran (Kashmiri traditional outfit) as part of security measures before entering the venue at the SKICC here.

“Violence has no place in any civilized society and peaceful co-existence is the best means to resolve problems”, Sinha said, asking religious heads to spread the message of love, peace, and tolerance among the youth.

“Radicalization should not be associated with a specific religion. There is a need for Islamic scholars to formulate a policy and a process by which a helpless person, who is exposed to a violent ideology, is prevented from getting radicalized,” Sinha said.

“All the stakeholders should make collaborative efforts to check the violent ideology and propaganda being spread on social media by certain groups in radicalizing our young population. Although, the level of radicalization is comparatively much lesser in Jammu Kashmir, it is very important to focus on counter-radicalization for ensuring social harmony and national security,” he added.

Noting that mainstream media has an important role to counter extremist ideologies, he added: “These efforts are not written ideologies or some philosophies but it is about humanness and helping the personality of an individual to grow in the right direction. Many people distorted the message of Islam and apart from Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, there are many scholars who raised voice against deliberate distortion and misinterpretation of the selected portion of Islamic texts. There is a need to check propagation and wrong interpretation of texts from holy books, besides realizing our responsibilities to show the right way and direction to the one who is treading a wrong path.

“Jammu and Kashmir is an ocean of spirituality,” he said.

“If you see any religion of the world, it teaches us only two paths - the paths of meditation and love. The problem arises when the original values of the religion are ignored and the spirit of love, kindness, compassion, renunciation which develops the 'Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava' and communal harmony is harmed. It is our responsibility to correct the wrong rhetoric and misinterpretation to preserve the feeling of love and harmony,” he added.

“Many cases have come up in which even a very educated person gets radicalized. We need to counter radicalization through Sufi tradition, religious heads and Mothers and sisters without any particular sect,” he added.