Chennai: Over 1,000 protesters, including children, belonging to the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ) group staged an agitation at Chepauk in Chennai to voice its ire against the Islamic State and the attacks backed by it in Sri Lanka.
Protesters raised slogans like ‘Stop Terrorism and Save Humanity’ and slammed the IS for the bombings in the island country that killed over 250 people.
While the Sri Lankan government suspected the involvement of the National Thowheed Jamath in explosions, the outfit has denied the claims.
Abdul Rahim, the general secretary of TNTJ, said, “We oppose the bombings that happened in Sri Lanka for which IS has claimed responsibility. The Sri Lankan government is under the image that this was a combined act of National Tamil Thowheed Jamath and IS. It is trying to link the bombing with TNTJ. A few people are trying to misuse the name of our group.”
Citing the example of the shootings at mosques in New Zealand in which about 51 people lost their lives, Rahim said terrorism and religion should not be interlinked.
“We have always believed that terrorists are against humanity. Our jamath has been working for 40 years in the state against terrorism. We had also extended our help during crisis like cyclones Vardha and Gaja,” said Rahim.
When asked about the local outfit’s opinion on women being asked not to wear burqa in public places in Sri Lanka, Rahim said, “We have been in favour of this since the last 10 years. Nowhere in our religion has it been mentioned that our women must cover their faces.”
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