Salman Rushdie while hurting the feelings of more than a billion Muslims also hurt the feelings of Sikhs by writing Sikh terrorists blowing up an imaginary plane.
By so doing he has done great service to Brahminical government of India. Born in a moderate Muslim family in Bombay, he has done great harm to mankind especially Muslims and Sikhs. 1 wonder why any Sikh leader in Khalistan or abroad has not condemned it.
T contacted personally the President of Council of Khalistan, Editor World Sikh News and some other local Sikh leaders in this regard but with no results. This is a matter of record that no passenger or crewmember was hurt in any hijacking by Khalistanies. Discipline and great respect for human life was shown by them. On the other hand Indian Forces killed Musibat Singh a hijacker after he surrendered himself at Amritsar. No one has come up with any proof for involvement of Sikhs in the crash of Air India plane near Ireland.
Rushdie though a Muslim but had no or very little religious training and have lived under Hindu influence for most of the time we in the worst cherish freedom of speech and freedom of the worship. This freedom is guaranteed under constitution to which we pledge to protect under the name of God.
Freedom of speech does not mean abusing or throwing insults at others and thus hurting their feelings. Religion is a very sensitive issue with its followers. Rushdie did character assassination of the prophet of Muslim with imaginary characters in the fiction. This is misuse of freedom of speech which should not be permitted. Last year Christianity suffered a similar onslaught (The Last Templation).
I wonder why centers of religion, Vatican, Jerusalem, Mecca, Amritsar and Dharmsala are silent. Social disciplines need to be developed to protect and enhance moral values.
Jagjit S. Boparai
TRACY California
Article extracted from this publication >> March 17, 1989
