Mr. Ahmed

#14 :

Sir,

That is an admirable though, one which we must adhere to. Rationality is sadly lacking in the world, especially in the sub-continent.

#16

Sir,

That is a ridiculous attempt at sensationalization and taking things out of context. It is the likes of you that fan the fanatics.

regards,

Re: # 14 temp

PS: everytime somebody says muslims were once hindus, pakis invariably come back with the same stock repsonse ``but why stop at that?... we are all humans``. Somehow to run away from the fact. Wow - the hatred is really astounding.

All Druv was trying to do was establish some kind of kinship, for sake of the conversation. He was NOT trying to bring the guy back into the fold.

Re: # 14 temp
//...we are all human beings...//

Really? Even a Kufr is a human being? Wow - that`s some radical idea :)))

13,

A talk show host said that US/West/Christians need their fundoos to counter Muslim fundoos. He said only fundoos will be able to take care of other fundoos. Reasonable persons cannot reason with fundoos.

Dhruva:

welcome to chowk!

the battle lines are already emerging:)

here is my minority report:

the ending had possibilities nullified by your earlier inflections:

“He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently. “No idea”, I thought gloomily, “he has absolutely no clue”. this was a let down in a sense for me...as a writer you could have taken this on a higher plain...

yes there were hindu influence in afghanistan predating advent of islam...but why stop at that?...

we are all human beings...good, bad, ugly...hindu, muslim, christains or professing other faiths...we all come from a womb and return to another...

hence my query...why stop at that?

rgds

t

Re: # 12 kaura
//....There is BIG difference...//

Of course, there is a big difference.

But still, you get a overwhelming feeling of deja vu when you read about this guy - Mr Pope Benedick. I fell of my chair when I read all this about him. Even more flabbergasted to see that there is no outrage.

We need to see some outrage. Otherwise, how can the west claim to fight for modernity and against antiquity?

#10,

There is BIG difference. In Western states, the secular forces, free thinking and will are too strong to negate such religious right. Cahtolic individuals can shun the dogma easily - not so amongst muslims; they are chased up the trees and shot.

Amongst muslims, even the educated ones, there is multiple personality....the muslim personality almost always overpowers the other.

#8

Sir,

Point taken.

The premise of the piece is quite pertinent in today`s world. The propensity of people to erect walls which stand in the way of reason is alarming. I simply do not understand why people absolutely dismiss a different point of view without even ackowledging it.

regards.

//... “He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently...//

Why single out muslims? Catholics just ``elected`` a Pope who professes the following characterstics, according Wall Street Journal:

1. The new Pope has spent his life combating secularsim.
2. He is nick-named as the ``Grand Inquisitor``. He thinks Catholicism is better than every other faith in the world, including other cristian denominations.
3. He considers poverty less important issue than ``Church`s identity``.
4. He favors ``conservative`` ideas to ward off ``threats`` from Islam.
5. he is against womens participation in church.

Best of all,
6. He was a Hitler-Youth, a former member of the nazis.

And yet, a billion catholics all over the world are going ra ra over him......Nobody sees a problem over this guy, the Pope Benedict XIV [ or something ].

The difference between this guys and any Grand Ayatollah Mullah is a matter of degree. But they profess the same principles. They both command unquestioned slavish submission from their billion-plus followers ........ So why single out the muslims?

Foolish descendants of Abraham are going cukcoo.

If everybody IS a muslims - then who is a kufr?

Re: # 7

au contraire I don`t think that writer is being literal here; but anyway the point is that pathans are quite vhement about their assertion in this regard.

Urstruely sir,

While I do not doubt your assertion about Afghans not being Hindu before the advent of Islam, I doubt that was the point the author attempts to make. It would do us a lot of good not to take everything literally and comprehend the underlying message. There is no gain from being overly pedantic.

However, that being said, thank you for the information, any nugget is welcome as history is a very interesting subject.

regards,

I think that Mr. Ahmad`s contention about not being ``once Hindus`` is correct. According to the history of Pakhtoon people - the pushto speaking people on both side of Pak-Afghan border - are bani-Isreal, meaning that they are of jewish descent. But instead of calling themselves, one of the lost tribes of Israel, they contend that their migration to this area is a recent phenomenon; actually it happened right after the advent of Islam in Arabia. Pakhtoons also refer to themselves as ``Khalidis`` claiming that they were originally from the same tribe as that of Khalid Bin Valid (may Allah be pleased with him), the legendary General of Islamic history and one of the companions of Holy Prophet (pbuh); who was of jewish descent.

Nice story. I must admit I had never heard of this 18 plus 81 business before, but sure enough...its right there on the palm of the hand. :-)

Actually, I think Mr. Ahmed`s broader point was right: we humans are all the same in the eyes of God, and it is about time we stop differentiating among ourselves on the basis of religion.

I have seen the same phenomenon with sane individuals. The jew=bad formula is drummed into people. I have many friends from the Middle East and Pakistan, and we get along fine all the time. As soon as the issue of Israel comes up, the conclusions drawn are unanimous, I am flooded with statements like ``Watch out for Jews`` , ``Jews are bad`` etc.

It boggles my mind how perfectly normal people with the capabilities to draw independent conclusions turn into zombies. There are exceptions for sure, but the overwhelming majority think alike. It boggles the mind.

Dhruva,

Nicely written. Simple, elegant and makes the point perfectly.