Muslims are Victims of those who Inflict Violence in Religion’s Name: Masagos

Channel NewsAsia

20 November 2015

Following the terror attacks in Paris, worries about a rise in Islamophobia have surfaced in Europe, the United States and around the world.

And Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli feels it is important that Muslims speak out against the violence inflicted in the name of their religion.

“Acts of violence in whatever name is wrong, and we should be open about this,” he said. “We know that currently, Muslims are the victims of people who use the name of our religion to perpetuate violence. And therefore we should have no two ways about it – mention to everybody, outright, that this is an act of terrorism, these are not acts that Muslims do,” he said in an interview with MediaCorp’s current affairs programme Talking Point.

… For Europe, the societal fallout from the Paris attacks is not likely to go away anytime soon. Mr Romain Quivooij, an Associate Research Fellow with the Centre of Excellence for National Security here, recalled the surge in Islamophobic attacks in France after the Charlie Hebdo shootings in January this year.

He said: “Unfortunately, I’m afraid this tendency is a trend is likely to happen again following these attacks. Another important element is the risk of confusion between the migrant crisis on the one hand, and the terrorist threat on the other.

“I think the French government and the European Union need to be very careful not to make any community feel targeted.”

Professor Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, said the Paris attacks were aimed at creating rifts between the Muslim and non-Muslim, the host and migrant communities.

Thus, for governments, “promoting moderation, toleration and coexistence should be one of the key pillars in the fight against terrorism”, he said.

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