Terrorism not a clash between Christian West and Islam: David Cameron

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday said terrorism should not be seen as a battle between the Christian countries of the West and the Islamic countries in the Middle East. It is all about identifying and wiping out a small section that believes in extremism.

Criticizing US President Donald Trump's view on terrorism, he said it is more of an intellectual battle against those who believe in the "perverted view" of the Islamic religion.

"When at times I listen to President Trump, it seems he thinks of terrorism like a clash of civilizations between the Christian West and the religion of Islam, which I think is completely wrong," said Cameron, also the former Conservative Party chief.

"What's happening now-a-days is a civil war in the Islamic states between a vast majority willing to practice their religion peacefully and a very small minority that have taken up a radicalized and perverted view of the religion and turned it into a kind of belief.

"What we have to do is recognize those who are involved in this," he pointed out while addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

Cameron said the terrorist problems have surfaced not just in the Middle East but also in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Britain in recent times, which shows "we are involved in a big intellectual fight".

He said that in order to discourage the spread of radicalism among people, the success of multi ethnic nations like India and Britain should be celebrated.

"We should try to celebrate the multi cultural, multi religious, multi ethnic countries like India and Britain. We should also help those countries in wiping out the perverted practice of radicalism in the name of religion," he said.

Talking about the spread of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, he said such forces need to be fought with fire to eliminate the extremists.

"Iraq is a state that has been finding support for the Islamic State that actively sends terrorists to other countries. Sometimes people are trained in Iraq and sent to the European countries while at other times they are just radicalized through social media.

"But a large section of their people are willing to break free from the grasp of this extremist group. We have to find a strategy to wipe out the extremist forces and work with the locals," Cameron said.

He also said that the world will be a safer place if there is peace between Israel and Palestine but it will not ensure the end of terrorism.

--IANS

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