New Delhi

A group of prominent civil society members said have expressed their concern on the “euphoria” among some sections of Indians over the Taliban getting control of Afghanistan.

Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD), that includes eminent Bollywood personalities like Shabana azami, Javed Akhtar and Naseerudin Shah has said in a statement, they reject the idea of a “theocratic state anywhere in the world.”

The statement signed by 128 eminent persons says, “It questions the legitimacy of the ‘Islamic Emirate’ the Taliban seek to impose on the war-torn, war-weary people of Afghanistan who are yearning for peace.”

The signatories of the IMSD statement include journalists, lawyers, students, academicians, civil society activists and members of the film fraternity

It said: “It is “one thing to welcome the ouster of the occupiers and the overthrow of their puppets, quite another to celebrate the return to power of those who with their barbaric version of Islam have contributed in no small measure to the demonization of Muslims and their faith across the globe.”

“We are deeply disturbed by the euphoria evident among a section of Indian Muslims, including religious leaders such as the office bearers of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani and Maulana Sajjad Nomani, and the Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, over the Taliban’s capture of power,” the IMSD statement said.

The AIMPLB has, however, said it “has neither expressed any view nor given any statement on Taliban and recent political situation of Afghanistan. “Opinion of some board members has been portrayed as the board’s stand…,” it said in a recent tweet.

Putting sense into the narrative on Afghanistan’s developments, the IMSD statement said,”It is nothing but sheer opportunism and hypocrisy to stand in support of a secular state in a country like India where Muslims are in a minority and applaud the imposition of Shariah rule wherever they are in a majority. Such rank double-standard gives legitimacy to the Sangh Parivar’s (RSS) agenda for a Hindu Rashtra.”

The IMSD respects the views of the growing tribe of Islamic scholars, religious leaders and Muslim intellectuals across the globe who argue that the very notion of an “Islamic state” is antithetical to the core teachings of Islam, it said

The IMSD has pushed for the global community to launch what it calls a, ‘24x7 Afghanistan Watch’, which holds the Taliban to its supposed claims of change and a new way of ruling.

It stated that it calls upon the democratic world and the US, in particular, to open its borders to Afghans who are forced to flee. They signed off that the BJP-led Indian government must open its doors to all Afghan refugees, irrespective of religion.