[Commentary by Shoazim Minovarov, the chairman of the religious affairs committee under the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers: "Disaster's root lies in ignorance"]
One of today's most urgent tasks is to conduct a joint fight against the evil of terrorism worrying humanity and threatening the peace of citizens engaged in their work, and another such task is to prevent any potential trouble from happening.
Speaking at the 14th session of the Supreme Assembly of the second convocation, our head of state said with regret: "We should find out in good time about all threats to our country's security and peace and various plots against our state, and use all our power and means to counter these."
[Passage omitted: recent violence in Nigeria and Indonesia mentioned]
The evil of terrorism did not leave alone our region, in particular our beloved Uzbekistan. As a result of the Soviet leadership's ill-considered invasion of independent Afghanistan, that long-suffering country became a test site for the interests and ideologies of big countries and political forces. The ignorant and fanatical Taliban government completely ruined the country. The whole country started opium production, selling it and mainly buying weapons with the money that came from its sale. The most terrible thing is that Afghanistan's territory has already become an international center for training radical Islamic fighters.
We remember the speeches made by the Uzbek leader at international forums to express concern and draw the international community's attention to the problem of Afghanistan and to solve this problem effectively and as soon as possible were heeded only after the tragic events of September 2001. If those appeals and proposals had been considered, and effective measures had been taken in a timely manner, perhaps international terrorism would not have taken root.
Terrorist activities which are being carried out in our country and abroad certainly have their specific aspects and reasons given the situation in the region and each of its countries. Now, research and analyses show that the political and financial interests of certain groups or persons are behind such slogans as those calling for pure Islam [printed in bold], setting up a caliphate [printed in bold], building an Islamic state [printed in bold] and propagating the religion [printed in bold].
[Passage omitted: terror attacks in the United States and Spain mentioned]
Fanatic organizations and groups around the world, in particular in Uzbekistan and in the region, usually recruit people ignorant of religious and secular matters to carry out their plots. But Islam is in fact a religion of peace and good deed, and it forbids bloodshed.
"Enthusiastic teachers" say: "I will teach you the religion", but they do not say a word about quotations from Koran which say that shedding blood is a sin, that conspiracy is tantamount to murder, that the death of an innocent person is likened to the death of humankind, that those who are causing destruction, shedding blood of innocent people and looting will be ruthlessly punished in the presence of God. They only use as their guidance those quotations which were intended only for a specific historical place or period and which are no longer valid, or they change this or that quotation or Hadith [saying of the Prophet] to suit their evil plans.
[Passage omitted: Some quotations from Koran]
Our beloved country, our motherland, is one of the centers of Islamic culture. Our educated ancestors, our skilful craftsmen, and hard-working people left an unforgettable and timeless mark in the historical period of enlightenment and culture, known as Islamic renaissance. The whole world can see that these great values are being restored in independent Uzbekistan. A group of lost and ignorant people cannot stop the wheel of history moving towards progress and enlightenment, spiritual peace and prosperity. God and our people's willpower will not let this happen.
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail