We’ve still not lost India and Pakistan to the extremist religious right but at this rate we surely will. Munawar Faruqui had to quit stan...
We’ve still not lost India and Pakistan to the extremist religious right but at this rate we surely will.
Munawar Faruqui had to quit stand-up comedy after a string of his shows were cancelled because there was fear of a law and order situation. Let’s be clear about it: it’s because he is Muslim. He is not being targeted by the religious right for something he said but because something they imagined he would say that might hurt their religious sentiments.
On our side of the border, a police station was burnt down because they refused to hand over a person accused of blasphemy to a mob. Just a month ago several policemen were killed by mobs on the street.
Where are our countries headed? There is a consensus in all major Islamic schools of thought that no person has the right to attack or kill someone accused of blasphemy but when a mob has been riled up with religious fervour it doesn’t matter to them what Islam truly says.
The Munawar Faruqui incident in India might seem small comparatively but its borne out of the same place: a feeling really, a feeling that the powers that be have instilled in the masses. The idea...
