Kazakhstan says it
rejects all forms of religious fanaticism, extremism and terrorism.
The world is fragile and societies can’t afford conflicts in the
name of religion, said the Chairman of Religious administration
of the Muslims of Kazakhstan and Senior Mufti Absattar Haji Derbissali
here today at a meeting he had with the Minister for Human Resource
Development and Science and Technology Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi.
He said that Kazakhstan with a population of more than 70 percent
Muslims follow moderate Islam and that Islam has nothing to do
with terrorism. Condemning heinous acts in the name of religion,
the Senior Mufti said exploitation of religion to achieve political
ends has to be abandoned. Religious differences, if any, will
have to be settled through dialogue, he stressed.
Agreeing with the
Kazakh Muslim leader, Dr. Joshi said India always stood for religious
tolerance and equal respect for all religions. It is a country
of not one or two religions but of almost all religions in the
world. He told the Senior Mufti that in the new curriculum, the
basic teachings of various religions have been incorporated to
make children grow up to be citizens with human values and live
in harmony. Confluence of ideas will only lead to peaceful co-existence.
He also told the Kazakh leader that today we are finding a different
Islam in Pakistan while Sufi-ism and Vedanta teach the same thing.
He wanted a joint study of the two peoples’ and their history
to understand each other better.
The Kazakh leader
is in India as a Member of Jury of the Fourth International Qira’at
Quran Conference.
