Don’t link religion with terror

There is no justification for the killing of innocent people because of their ethnicity or religious background. Britain is still trying to come to terms with the brutal killing of the British security officer within meters of the army base in East London. Everyone has condemned the gruesome murder of the innocent victim including the British Muslim Council. Owing to the serious nature of the incident British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his visit to France and is now trying to calm a horrified nation.

Naturally, the British Muslim community is expecting to see a backlash after the tragic incident. Although terrorism isn’t bound to any religion, British right-wing activists are trying to get political mileage from it, which is very unfortunate. The British media are also not being helpful by showing graphic footage of the attackers with hate speeches while wielding the arms they used in their heinous crime. 

Only weeks ago an 85-year-old Muslim man was also murdered in the same town while returning to his house from a nearby mosque. Police believe it was a racist attack but there was no uproar over his killing. Does anyone know how many men, women and children have been killed by troops or drone strikes in Afghanistan in the past week, month or year? There are no statistics for them, but the bottom line is that everywhere, innocent people are paying with their lives. It doesn’t get worse than that. — Khawaja Umer Farooq, Jeddah