A concert held in Minya a few days ago under the auspices of the Minya governor was ended after a group of hardline Islamists gathered outside the concert hall demanding that it should be
A concert held in Minya a few days ago under the auspices of the Minya governor was ended after a group of hardline Islamists gathered outside the concert hall demanding that it should be halted. The concert included performances of religious chanting by Muslim and Christian groups. The Islamists were against the singing of Christian hymns, and the non-veiled Christian female singers.
According to a statement issued by the 6 April political movement to denounce the incident, the Jamaa’ Islamiya and Salafi youth mobbed outside the hall where the concert, which was organised by the Heart of Egypt and Hand in Hand groups, was held. The Islamists terrorised the audience, branding them and the concert organisers as infidels.
The 6th April statement expressed dismay at the response of Islamist parties to the incident, and condemned what it described as the “fraud, lies and falsifications” they used to justify the incident. The Salafi al-Nour party disclaimed any responsibility, while the Jamaa’ Islamiya Building and Development Party claimed that the concert was aimed at spreading Christianity. The 6th April movement said that instead of evading any responsibility of the matter, the Jamaa’ Islamiya and the Salafis should apologise for what the young men belonging to their movements did.
For their part, the al-Nour Party and the Salafi movement issued a joint statement denouncing the incident, and saying it does not conform with Islamic and Muslim behaviour. The statement called on all Islamist streams to exercise self-control and to measure the ‘evils and benefits’ before venturing on any action. The statement called upon security authorities to investigate the Minya incident, to catch and punish the culprits and publicly disclose the truth.
The 6 April movement denounced the acquiescence of the Minya security authorities to Islamists, by halting the concert instead of catching of the law-breakers. The movement demanded Minya security should open investigate the concert incident, catch the culprits and to refer them to court.
Condemnations of the Minya incident flowed in from rights activists as well as various liberal political parties, among which al-Tayar al-Shaabi (literally, the Populist Stream), and al-Misreyeen al-Ahrar (The Free Egyptians) Party.
Al-Misreyeen al-Ahrar announced it was organising a silent march in Minya next Friday to protest against the incident and the laxity of the Minya security.
Watani International
31 October 2012