Obama regrets distortion of Islam to justify violence

Mumbai, Nov 7 (PTI) US President Barack Obama Sunday
regretted that the "great religion" of Islam has been
distorted by a few extremists to justify violence towards
innocent people and called for isolating these elements.
Obama also said that people will have to fundamentally
reject the notion that violence is the way to mediate
differences among them.
"I think all of us have to fundamentally reject the
notion that violence is the way to mediate our differences,"
he added.
The US president expressed these views when a Muslim
student A Ansari lobbed a question asking for his views on
on 'jehad" during his interaction with students of St Xavier's
college here.
"I think all ofus recognise that this great
religion(Islam) in the hands of a few extremists has been
distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is
never justified," he said.
"So, one of the challenges the world faces is how to
"isolate" those who have these distorted notions of religious
war...and reaffirm those who see faces of all sorts whether
you are a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian and a Jew or any
other religion that we can all treat each other with respect
and mutual dignity," he added.
Obama said the phrase 'Jihad’ has different
interpretations. Islam is one of the great religions and
majority of its one billion practicers believe in peace,
justice and tolerance, he added.
The President also said the existence of diverse
religious beliefs was a "major challenge" not only in India
but also around the world.
He said the youth of the world can make a huge impact
in re-affirming that one can be a strong observer of one's
faith without putting somebody else down or visiting violence
on somebody else.
Religious tolerance is necessary in a world that is
getting smaller and smaller where more and more people of
different backgrounds, different races, different ethnicities
are interacting and workigng and learning from each other,
Obama added. PTI EKA
RBT