This refers to the article by Mohd. Naushad Khan, ‘I love Muhammad ﷺ’Protests Spark Calls for Tougher Blasphemy Law. I am a regular subscriber of your magazine.
I personally don’t agree with the views of the writer. I love Muhammad, poster issue was a local issue created by a police officer in Kanpur. The lawyers and NGOs from the area could have taken legal recourse. By making this issue emotional and giving it a form of agitation at several other places is not justified by any account.
We have seen the result in the form of hundreds of FIRs against innocent people who will have to fight them out.
We should know that Indian police and administration is highly unfair and biased against Muslims, so we should always avoid such spontaneous reactions and agitations.
The issue has nothing to do with the blasphemy laws, it is based on hate and communalism.
We should search for a proper antidote for this poison.
Aftab Alam Khan
Nagpur
Hurling Shoe at Honourable CJI
An advocate of SCI threw a shoe on Hon’ble CJI, Justice B.R. Govai. His family has given up Hinduism long back and embraced Buddhism. He is a practising Buddhist. This is not an attack on SCI but an attack on millions of Dalits. This attack exposes the Brahminical mindset. They cannot tolerate a non-Brahmin as their head or superior. In other words, Dalit or member of a minority is not acceptable to the Brahminical lobby under any circumstances. Upper castes feel uncomfortable when any Dalit or minority person occupies high constitutional post by his “sheer merit and efficiency.” His Dalit background was reflected in the intemperate and insulting language used by upper caste members. Media coverage given to shoe-thrower is another proof on which side the media stands and in whose favour they are using their mighty pen. These people have also boasted that “the entire system is ours”.
Mr. Prashant Bhusan, Senior advocate of SCI, has rightly said, “A dastardly attempt by a lawyer with Brahminical mindset to intimidate the CJI”.
Farooq AbdulgafarBawani
Rajkot, Gujarat,India
Qatar Emerging as Peace Mediator
In conflict after conflict, Qatar has come forward to forge peace. For example, in the two-year long Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, we have seen many peace talks held in Qatar. And, again recently, a ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been effected with the mediation of Qatar. In the latter case, Türkiye was also with Qatar in brokering the truce.
The Foreign Ministry of Qatar has announced that both sides, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have committed to holding follow-up meetings to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and lasting manner. The October 18 agreement came after some of the worst instances of violence between the two neighbouring countries since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 that left dozens dead and hundreds more injured.
The tensions spiked on October 17 when reports said an attacker had killed seven Pakistani soldiers and injured 13 near the border, followed by Pakistani strikes. The 2,600-kilometre bordersaw Pakistani airstrikes and fierce ground fighting last week after Islamabad accused Kabul of harbouring militants behind a surge in attacks on Pakistani forces.
These escalations could have escalated and gone out of control. But, thanks to Qatar and Türkiye, the two neighbouring countries have reached an agreement to respect each other. In these circumstances, we wonder why no one proposes Qatar as a potential peace mediator.
Samir Khan
Moradabad, UP