JUH cancels conference over member's statement

In the wake of a controversial statement by its member Mufti Mohammad Ilyas, Jamait Ulema Hind (JUH) today announced cancellation of a unity conference, scheduled here on February 27.
"At the unity conference, religious leaders from Ayodhya and others had to participate. But we are cancelling it after Ilyas's controversial statements that has posed a threat to unity and peace not only here but also in the entire country," JUH district president and convener of the conference Zubair Ahmad told reporters here.
Condemning Ilyas's statement, Ahmad said that JUH is a world famed organisation and it has nothing to do with the statement and even claimed that Ilyas was not even its member.

Ilyas had in a statement in Ayodhya yesterday said, "Shiv was Islam's first prophet. We Indian Muslims are followers of Islam. We believe in 'Allah', but we are, traditionally, 'Hindus'.