It is regretting to know that the government denied visa to an award winner British journalist Yvonne Ridley as she was scheduled to address 50,000 women at Spring of Islam Conference in Hyderabad. We, the Muslims of India, are compelled to feel that she was refused visa because she converted to Islam in 2003 after her visit to Afghanistan in 2001 during the Taliban regime. This shows that the government does not adhere to the principles of Democracy and Secularism laid down in the Constitution of India. The government is befooling us for the last 65 years and its secular veil is uncovered now. Had there been Salman Rushdie or Taslima Nasrin in her place, the government would have given the visa immediately without making any delay. We strongly condemn such policies of the government.
Mohd. Ilyas
Lucknow, U.P.