The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations and eminent personalities, on 3 June expressed its deep concern over the sudden escalation of the conflict in Syria and warned the Indian Muslim community to beware of its repercussions.
The AIMMM President, Dr.Zafarul-Islam Khan, in a statement in New Delhi, condemned the unprecedented and uncalled for, sudden escalation of the conflict in Syria by the induction of Hezbollah fighters into the conflict zone on the side of the Syrian government and the eminent Sunni scholar Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s call for a Jihad in Syria to frustrate the “Shi’i designs” in the region. Both these moves have clear sectarian undertones which threaten to change the contours of the conflict in and over Syria into a Shia-Sunni conflict.
Dr. Khan said if the political, democratic and popular struggle in Syria to topple an unpopular, sectarian and family dictatorship is turned into a larger Shia-Sunni conflict, we will see a major Shia-Sunni schism which will not heal in hundreds of years.
Dr. Khan said the participation of foreign powers and fighters in the Syrian conflict will create a chaotic situation close to what now prevails in Iraq and Libya. The induction of the Shia-Sunni angle will lead to a sectarian strife in a vast area extending from Pakistan to Lebanon which will only benefit foreign powers eager to destabilise and exploit Muslim countries.
Dr. Khan cautioned the leaders of the Indian Muslim community, both Shia and Sunni, to be vigilant and not allow this menace to affect our country and destroy our community. Utmost care is needed to save ourselves from this plague, he said.