By Special Correspondent

New Delhi: Describing ISIS deadlier than the Coronavirus , well-known Islamic scholar and Chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan on Thursday severely condemned the criminal attack on a Kabul gurudwara by ISIS criminals. He called for the severest punishment to the criminals who executed, planned and supported this crime.

In a statement, Dr Khan called upon the Afghan authorities to arrest these criminals and execute them at the earliest. ISIS is a fanatic organisation which relies on the ideas of Khawarij outlaws who reared their heads in early Islam and were rejected by Muslims all these past fifteen centuries, he added.

Dr Khan, who studied at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University and a former President of All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, noted that ISIS is deadlier than Corona virus and should be mercilessly exterminated form the face of the earth. Anyone, Muslim or otherwise, supporting ISIS is an enemy of Islam, Muslims and humanity.

Offering sincere condolences and begged forgiveness of Sikh brothers and sisters, he said that Muslims all over the world feel their grief and pray to the Almighty for the souls of the martyred Sikh brothers who lost their precious lives during this criminal attack in Kabul.

Dr Khan was the first Indian Muslim leader to condemn ISIS when it first raised its ugly head. He did this in his personal capacity as well as on behalf of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, which he headed at the time.

Expressing solidarity and grief with the victims of the Kabul terror attack, All India Lawyers Council’s general secretary, Advocate Sharfuddin Ahmad said that some international agencies might be behind this ghastly act. He said the incident of attacking Sikh worshippers at the Gurdurwara was never happened before in strife-torn Afghanistan which has been experiencing civil war-like situation for decades. In this backdrop, the assault seems to be intended to sabotage the growing bonding between Muslims and Sikhs all over the world.

Holding Afghanistan President, Ashraf Ghani responsible for the brutal attack, Advo Ahmad urged him to bring the terrorists and their handlers involved in the attack to justice at the earliest. If the Afghan government fails in its duty, then the victim’s families should approach the International Criminal Court of Justice at Hague for getting justice, he said and asked the Indian Government to extend all l help to them in this connection and to impress upon the Afghan government to take immediate action.

Meanwhile, the Indian Americans also condemned the killing of Sikhs in Kabul. the Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA), a coalition of Indian American civil rights organizations in the US issued a statement and urged the Afghanistan government to protect the minorities.

“This reprehensible violence violates the basic tenets of Islam and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” Ahsan Khan, President of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), a constituent organization of AJA, said. “Our prayers are with the families of the victims.”

“The targeting of religious minorities for mass violence must end immediately,” said The Nmozhi Soundararajan of Equality labs expressing solidarity with the global Sikh community. “This is a time for all of us to come together collectively to overcome the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

While appreciating the Afghan police for killing the attackers in a standoff lasting hours, the AJA said the attack underscored the challenges escalating violence will pose in Afghanistan in the uncertain times likely to follow the withdrawal of the U.S. military.

“It is imperative that the Afghanistan government immediately provide and strengthen the security for all religious minorities and their places of worship in that country,” IAMC’s Ahsan Khan said. “Any loss of innocent lives is unacceptable,” Mr. Khan added.

The AJA also underlined that the people of Afghanistan and India share a relationship that is deep and centuries old. Not only Afghanistan’s religious minorities such as Hindus and Sikhs but also Afghan Muslims have deep historical kinship with Indians. India has been a key ally in rebuilding Afghanistan and Indians have settled there for generations.