There is a letter going round where a number of totally false and slanderous accusations have been made at the delegation which spoke to Narendra Modi to raise the concerns and plight of the Muslims of Gujarat.

In particular, the letter suggests that firstly, the delegation discussed the atrocities of Gujarat with Modi without the consent or consultation of the community; and secondly they say that the delegation should NOT have spoken to Modi to tell him how deeply disturbed and angry we, the Muslim Community in the UK, are at what happened to Muslims in Gujarat.

To all the rumourmongers, we say that by suggesting that we should not have met Modi to raise our concerns, it is tantamount to saying that we should forget (God forbid) how our sisters in Gujarat were raped and that we should forget how foetuses were torn out of pregnant Muslim women's stomachs and how Muslims were burnt alive. Moreover, by advocating the ignoring of Modi is also tantamount to suggesting that we should ignore the plight of the Muslims of Gujarat and not tell Modi how concerned we are about the well being of our Muslim brothers and sisters in Gujarat.

Do you think this is forgettable? We are sorry, but it is etched on people's minds forever. It can never be forgotten. On the contrary, we should do our utmost to ensure that a similar carnage against Muslims does not happen ever again, by whatever efforts we can make by the grace of Allah (SW).

We should not turn a deaf ear to the cries of help from the victims of the Gujarat carnage, lest we are held to account by Almighty Allah in the hereafter. Hadith of the Holy Prophet (SAW): "When you see my ummah fall victim to fear and it does not say to a wrongdoer (that you are doing wrong), then you may lose hope in them".

In fact, one Ulema (Islamic scholar) quoted one more Hadith which says that telling a Zalim ( a tyrant) he has done wrong is a form of Jihad in Islam. This eminent scholar told me personally not to be discouraged by the unjust criticism, as we hadn't done anything wrong in having dialogue with Modi.

Indeed, no sane or righteous Muslim person can ever think that by raising our concerns with Modi in this way, we did any thing wrong or sinful. On the contrary, since our telephone talks with Modi many Ulemas and many, many ordinary people have thanked us for our efforts.

Moreover, during conferences arranged to discuss the Gujarat atrocities around the UK e.g. Manchester, Batley, Bolton the communities had always advocated that whenever Mr Advani or Mr Modi visited the U.K, we should seek a meeting with them because of their track-record. They felt that it was important that the likes of Modi and Advani realised that the Muslims of Gujarat have a voice in the UK as well.

Knowing all this, If we had let the opportunity of talking to Modi pass, our conscience would not have let us live, knowing that we had an opportunity to raise the concerns and plight of the Muslims of Gujarat and we did not do anything about it.

As far as consultation goes, we had a consultation meeting in Blackburn involving many of the Indian heritage Mosques which unanimously agreed to seek talks with Modi. We had also asked many ordinary members of the community in Blackburn and they also indicated that we should seek a meeting with Modi to raise our concerns.

But, most important of all, last year we had consulted with the eminent and learned Islamic scholar Maulana Assad Madni, the President of the Jamiat Ulmae Hind (and a former member of the Indian Parliament). This is a major relief organisation working across India and which is extremely well respected. Moulana Asad Madni on his trip to the UK in 2002 had been asked whether or not Muslims in the UK should speak to the likes of Modi and Advani to raise our concerns. Moulana was absolutely vehement that YES we should seek lobbying meetings with these type of people when they visit the UK. Moulana Sajjad Nomani, another eminent Islamic scholar from India, also agreed that we did the right thing in talking to Modi.

We don't think there is anybody else in a better position to judge and advise on the situation in India than Moulana Asad Madni and Moulana Sajjad Nomani, as they have both spent all their lives in the field of Indian politics and Muslim relief work.

With all this in mind and with an absolutely crystal clear heart and total Ikhlas we arranged a telephone call ( NOT a personal meeting, as some are mischievously suggesting!) with Mr Modi. The delegation included chairmen of two large Blackburn mosques and committee members of some other Mosques in Blackburn.

To the best of my knowledge, and Almighty Allah knows best, we have received no objections from a community member or a Mosque in Blackburn (except from some of my adversaries and that is to be expected, of course!). This clearly implies that the community in Blackburn was in favour of us seeking dialogue with Modi in order to raise concerns about the atrocities in Gujarat.

The community in India also appears to be satisfied with our approach. I received an e-mail from India from the second most senior police officer in Gujarat, Mr Sabbir Hussein Khandwawala, commending us for our approach in raising our concerns with Modi in the way we did. Now, if anybody should know whether we did wrong or not he should!

During our talks with Modi we raised, amongst other issues, the plight of the Islamic scholars currently being unjustly and illegally detained in the jails of Gujarat. If as a result of our telephone talks with Modi, it leads to even ONE Islamic Scholar being released from jail in Gujarat then our efforts will have been worth it.

To my adversaries I say: ask the wives and children of the unjustly and illegally detained Islamic Scholars in Gujarat whether or not we have done anything wrong in raising our concerns with Modi.

For somebody who has devoted the last 18 years to khidmat (service) of the Muslim community, as I have done (I only say this because I want to illustrate a point and not because I want to boast about it) it is inconceivable that I could do anything else other than to help the Muslim cause and to suggest otherwise is tantamount to slander.

We are most disappointed in the un-Islamic manner this character defamation campaign is being conducted by some. It is appalling that members of the Muslim community goes about doing business in this low and vile fashion. Do they not know that one day we all have to answer to Allah and that slander is a sin that Allah (SW) only forgives if the one slandered forgives!

. Finally, I appeal to all those who disagree with our telephone talks with Modi, which we felt was the best way of helping the Muslims of Gujarat, for some understanding, tolerance and respect for views and actions which may be different to theirs, after all even the four Imams differed in many ways in their interpretation of Islam. Let's not do our dirty washing in public and in the process make the Muslim community a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.

I pray that Allah (SW) accepts all our efforts on behalf of Muslims and rewards us all in the hereafter for our efforts.

Wassalam

Ibrahim Master

General Secretary, IWA