USA: Co-chairs of Ahmadiyya Muslim Caucus Underline Necessity of Religious Freedom
WASHINGTON — Two Congressmen have affirmed the United States’s adherence to religious freedoms for all mankind noting that such liberties are enshrined high in the US Constitution.
Representatives, Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and Ted Poe, R-Texas, are the co-chairs of the newly formed bipartisan Ahmadiyya Muslim Caucus at Capitol Hill.
Conservative legislator of Texas Ted Poe, in remarks to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), on sidelines of the second Muslim youth gathering hosted by the Congress, labeled as significant campaigns aimed at rallying up support for peaceful Islam.
While stressing necessity of freedoms for peaceful Muslims, he also indicated at the need for guaranteeing such rights for other communities and minorities in the Middle East, noting in this respect the Congress bill, 1568, designed to safeguard Christians and Yezidis in face of suppression by militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
States and governments of the world should respect all religions and safeguard the minorities, the Congressman said in the interview with the Kuwaiti news agency, noting that such liberties are part of human rights.
The youth gathering was organized by the Ahmaddiya Muslim Youth Association, established 75 years ago to organize philanthropic and religious guidance activities.
Elaborating, the US lawmaker noted that the US constitution recognizes religious freedoms, adding that the American laws grant asylum for the persecuted, including people suffering from oppression at hands of the ISIL militants.
Democrat Jackie Speier, a Congresswoman representing California, noted necessity of the teaching in resisting extremism hailing the Islamic institution for trying to stand against bids to tarnish the true essence of Islam.
Members of the Islamic association have held meetings with Congressmen to promote the message of Islam as a religion of moderation and tolerance.
Deputy Chairman of Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) Dr. Baseer Roudney affirmed that the association seeks to counter the ideology of extremism.
The association has held Friday prayers in the courtyard of the Congress.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2439152&Language=en
