Renowned Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt joined a number of Indian celebrities in condemning the barbaric terrorist attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, saying that it was not a true picture of Islam.

While speaking to IANS, Bhatt, who has a close association with Pakistan, quoted Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore:

“Tagore once had a profound conversation with a Bedouin tribesman whom he met in an Iraq desert encampment. The Bedouin told him that the Holy Prophet described a true Muslim as someone whose words and deeds do not harm any person in any way, and here we have brother killing brother! Why is it that only a believer kills and not a non-believer? Its very strange thing.”

Bhatt believes that the people of Pakistan have greatly suffered because of the ongoing crisis and feels deeply for the victims.

“I recently went to Pakistan on the occasion of Pakistan Day when a friend was honoured. I saw that most of those being honoured were policemen who died while fighting terror. Those receiving the awards were widows and children of these terror martyrs."

The filmmaker said despite the escalating violence in Pakistan, people in the country were confused as to who the real enemy was.

"There is no denying that the state leader in Pakistan is powerless. If you go to Karachi you'll see the man on the street is very confused as to who the enemy is. They've been brought up on the narrative that the man or woman across the border is the real enemy. Now they're no longer sure of who the enemy is. The enemy, they feel, is among us."

He adds that those who are promulgating an extremist version of Islam must be condemned as it is not the real face of the religion: "It's time they stopped being in denial. They need to be gently nudged woken up. Militant Islam is never Islam. Look at Punjab where there has been glorious thought that a real Muslim never harms another. Muslims by being what what they've become, have done more damage to their religion than anyone else."