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WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 2, 2006) – The
Hindu American Foundation (HAF) strongly condemned the massacre
of twenty-two Hindus in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
by suspected Islamist terrorists yesterday. According to the
latest reports, militants belonging to the Pakistan-sponsored
Lashkar-e-Toiba trekked into remote hamlets in the
state’s Doda district and specifically rounded up Hindu
residents into the home of a village leader. The Hindus, including
a six-year-old girl, were then massacred with machine guns.
The latest killings came on the heels of
the abduction of 13 other Hindus earlier the same day and
the gunning down of four Hindu ranch-hands from the Udhampur
district the previous day. The two-day orgy was the worst
in Kashmir in nearly three years though the upcoming 2005
Hindu Human Rights report documents a steady drumbeat of attacks
on Hindus throughout the year.
“The latest murder spree tragically
confirms two realities: the bankruptcy of the Pakistani government’s
so-called commitment to a peace process, and the utter failure
of the Government of India to safeguard the lives of innocent
Hindus and Muslims within its territory,” said Aseem
Shukla, M.D., member of the HAF Board of Directors.
Over the last year, Hindus in India witnessed
attacks on their most sacred temple complexes in Ayodhya and
Varanasi that left dozens dead and were also attributed to
the Lashkar-e-Toiba. And just as the temple killings
occurred during a period of ongoing dialogue between Pakistan
and India, the latest attacks in Kashmir came on the eve of
talks that were to be held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
with leaders of ostensibly more moderate Kashmiri separatist
groups.
The Lashkar continues to operate
from Pakistan with a stated mission of destroying India. Despite
being officially banned, most believe that the group receives
financial and logistical support from Pakistani intelligence
agencies and various military officials.
“It seems amply clear that Pakistan—and
to a growing extent, the Islamist-backed government in Bangladesh—are
wholly unwilling to rein in the jihadi outfits they nurtured
and now threaten even their own illegitimate existence,”
said Prof. Ramesh Rao, member of the HAF Executive Council.
“These latest attacks and our annual report confirm
the vulnerability of Hindu men, women and children in their
homes, schools and most sacred places of worship in India
at the hands of imported terrorism. This is a disastrous reality
that the international community must condemn in the strongest
possible terms. We urge Indian authorities to take all necessary
measures to safeguard the lives of all of its citizens and
aggressively combat the menace of Islamist terrorism within
its borders.”
The Hindu American Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3), non-partisan organization, promoting the Hindu
and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism.
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