Orlando nightclub killings
We believe that
the killing carried out in Orlando was a sheer act of terror and hate rather than an act driven by a religious obligation
An American-born man who is reported to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State had gunned down at least some 50 people while injuring many more on early Sunday at a gay nightclub in Floridas Orlando. Given the scale and number of victims it is the deadliest attack on a mass gathering in the United States since 9/11. The gunman Omar Mateen, widely believed as a radical Islamist, was shot dead by the police.
Such attacks are heinous crimes against humanity besides deliberate attempts for distorting and misinterpreting Islamic values. We strongly condemn such atrocious acts of terror. Though there has been no specific claim of responsibility for the attack on jihadi forums, but ISIS sympathisers have reacted by praising the attack on pro-Islamic State forums. However, killing of innocent human beings with or without different sexual orientations cannot be either a response or an act of remonstration. Moreover, killing without legan process has been prohibited in Islam.
Similar to the US president, we too, believe that the killing carried out in Orlando was a sheer act of terror and hate rather than an act driven by a religious obligation.
There is much that we do not yet know about the casual slaughter of at least 50 people in Sunday mornings mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
There is much that we do not yet know about the killings. However it is clear that gay people were ones targeted. Whatever else it was, this was a hate crime targeted at a particular minority population, one that has been targeted before. Another thing we know already is that Sundays slaughter was made easier because the killer carried an assault rifle capable of firing bursts of bullets at phenomenally rapid rate. The US policymakers must decide whether their gun policy needs a change or not.
America and other countries can fight this insidious, often hidden threat of extremism is through vigorous law enforcement and intelligence work. And also through vigilance by citizens to notice and report signs of violent radicalisation in friends and family members.
Lastly with full sympathy for the victims and their bereaved families we expect the US government to deploy its full capability to deter all possible future attacks, if necessary resort to global combined efforts. Killings of innocent human beings anywhere is unpardonable.
