Comments and the Editor’s Response

(We are reproducing below comments by different persons picked up randomly. These came in response to our editorial on Kabul massacre posted simultaneously on social media).

Comment: The people who have done this heinous act have nothing to do with Islam!! They are not even Muslims!!!
Please remember Terrorism has no religion be it Kabul or Kashmir!!!
So please don’t paint it as an attempt to assert the bogey of Islamic superiority!!

Editor’s Reply: Good that you joined this discussion. I would be too happy if you raise a voice and tell the World that no terror outfit should use the word Islam in its name. Raise your voice and work towards resettling the Kashmiri Hindus in Kashmir…Raise your voice and tell the Muslim brothers in Kashmir to welcome the Kashmiri Pundits back with open arms. Tell your brothers who divide people by talking of the “Muslim world” and raise slogans like Jinnah wali Azadi (freedom associated with Jinnah, who advocated the “two nation theory” that led to the partition of India in 1947 and the massacre of 100s of thousands and the largest displacement of people in human history) – I mean the Shaheen Bagh gang – to learn to live with an inclusive mind…Till one doesn’t hear such voices, the cult of violence will continue to raise it’s ugly head in different parts of the world. Don’t plead on behalf of those who bid for Islamic superiority and lap it up with violence…There are also cults within…..that have turned huge parts of our globe into a hotspot due to the war for supremacy and they are backed by nations divided on cult lines. Don’t turn a blind eye to that. If you do, it will be a great disservice to humankind and the cause of peace, amity and brotherhood. I spoke to break the eerie silence.

Comment: I agree with you bhai (brother). One should raise the voice against oppression and injustice. “Aap ho na awaaz Uthane ke liye, hum apa ke sath hain But ye awaaz aap Sab taraf uthao, Eik tarfa naee” (you are there to raise a voice. We are with you. But you should also ask people from every direction to raise their voice. The effort should not be one-sided).

Comment: ISIS is a group of Shaitan (devil). Isko duniya ke nakshe se mita dena chahiye lekin America ne Afghanistan chhodne se pehle ISIS ko bula liya taki bloodshed hota rahe. (It should be erased from the face of this Earth but the US of America, before leaving Afghanistan has put ISIS there so that bloodshed continues.

Comment: Sooner the world realises that we need to question the idea of religion, the better. ISIS has taken the religious ideology to a satanist and barbarous level. If Islam or any other religion is a religion of peace, how can any interpretation of its ideas lead to such an extreme ruthlessness and violence. The reality is that religions may have had some concern of the betterment of human beings, they have increasingly become vile exclusionary dogmas and instruments of power and control of people. The blatant broad day ruthless mutilation of Jamal Khashoggi by none other than the first family of the Islamic caliphate of Saudi Arabia is a sign of clearest evidence of this evil. Of course, there are millions of very kind and compassionate Muslims all over the world, and the terrorists are a small fraction of the Muslim population. It would be wrong to condemn their belief in Allah or any body who may use their belief in God to refine their life. The issue is the dogmatic ideas promulgated by medieval caliphs for retaining absolute power passed down as the eternal tenets of the faith.