Senseless act

From the Newspaper
(18 hours ago) Today

IN a despicable incident on Sunday, a pastor in Florida burned a copy of the Quran after finding the religious text an incitement to violence. The act is, of course, a shocking one, and should be strongly condemned for utterly disregarding Muslims’ religious sensitivities. It also risks worsening the state of interfaith relations in the West at a difficult time; controversial hearings about the radi-calisation of American Muslims, for example, were held on Capitol Hill less than two weeks ago. Furthermore, acts like these simply heighten the extremist threat to America and make global cooperation against terrorism more difficult. Given the potential international fallout, a condemnation issued by the US ambassador to Pakistan was a welcome initial move. What the incident calls for, however, is the need for dialogue in the West to dispel the notion that Islam and terrorism are uniquely interlinked.
Sunday’s act was so deeply disturbing that a strong reaction from Pakistanis and other Muslims would be understandable. It should not, however, become a reason for violent protest, or even for the disruption of commerce and daily life. The act was conducted by a lone fanatic with a group of 30 onlookers and as such is not worth the trouble, let alone loss of life. One especially hopes that the incident does not result in attacks against religious minorities here or in other Muslim countries. This is a time to heed lessons learned during protests against the infamous Danish cartoons, when business was disrupted, lives lost, and minorities attacked to make a point that could have been made through less disruptive means. The more intelligent and admirable approach would be to remain calm and register any protest to this senseless act in a peaceful manner.