Letters to the editor

Awarding knighthood to Salman Rushdie seems to be a deliberate provocation to the Muslims. This action appears to be part of an effort to increase tension and confrontation between the West...

Knight and…

• Awarding knighthood to Salman Rushdie seems to be a deliberate provocation to the Muslims. This action appears to be part of an effort to increase tension and confrontation between the West and Islam. Prime Minister Tony Blair may have done his last bit for President Bush. Conferring knighthood on Salman Rushdie is so blatant that even a faithful ally like

Pakistan government called the British ambassador in to express strong criticism of this move. No one will disagree with the fact that writers should have the freedom to express their ideas and should be rewarded. However, in this case the knighthood appears more to be a political move rather than a genuine appreciation of a writer. Writers should also be very careful about not hurting people’s

religious sentiments.

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Many Muslims are going to perceive the award to Salman Rushdie as a deliberate

provocation and an attack on their religion. The interests of the world, including the West, are not served by the clash of civilisations. The world needs a confluence of civilisations.

— Sawraj Singh Chairman, Washington State Network for Human Rights, Washington DC

…Counter-knight

• THIS refers to the media

reports about a leading group of Pakistani Islamic scholars awarding its so-called highest honour to al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, saying it was in reaction to Britain’s knighthood for Salman Rushdie. It has awarded bin Laden a title of ‘Saifullah’, or Sword of Allah. This sounds strange. How can a killer be called the ‘Sword of God’? The Holy Quran does not permit such cheap, mean and inhuman acts as those committed by bin Laden & Co. If knighthood for Salman hurts anyone, they have the right to express their displeasure. But doing this in a manner that only gives their own faith a bad name does not help.

— Ahmad Rais Siddiqi, New Delhi

Spare the patient

• THE reported Caesarean

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section carried out by a teenage boy in Tamil Nadu is really shocking (‘Aiming for Guinness…’, IE, June 21).

First the boy had no business

being inside the operating theatre. Stern action needs to be taken by the Medical Council of India and the state police authorities. One hopes the

incident is not swept under the carpet because of any high level influence or the lethargy of the investigating authorities. As an immediate measure, the MCI should

cancel the licences of both his parents. The state should also prosecute them under appropriate provisions of criminal law. The boy too needs counselling and be watched by the probation authorities. These doctors seeking world records should not be ‘let loose’ on innocent and unsuspecting patients.

— K. Venkataraman, Mumbai