Editorial
We condemn massacre of US consulate in Libya
Release of the anti-Islamic film also outrageous
We unequivocally condemn the rocket attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Tuesday that left the US envoy to Libya J Christopher Stevens, three other Americans and several Libyan security personnel dead. We are indeed aggrieved to note that the attack, which is said to have been triggered by the release of a trailer of an American film mocking Prophet Mohammad (SM), has claimed several innocent lives having nothing to do with the making of the film or the release of its trailer on YouTube. We are also apprehensive that it will set the fledgling democracy of Libya on a path of increasing internal strife and political volatility.
Having said that, we also strongly condemn the making of the American film titled 'Innocence of Muslims' which outrageously mocks the faith of Islam that nearly one and a half billion people adhere to the world over. Even after receiving objections from thousands of viewers on YouTube, Google which owns the online video site has refused to remove the film trailer from its site. In the name of upholding freedom of speech and thoughts, this is a contemptuous disregard for the believers of one of the biggest religions in the world.
We believe that this is actually a way for a vested quarter to provoke the Muslims to attack adherents of other religions. Whenever there is a possibility of peace between the Muslim and the Western worlds, we have shockingly noticed such provocative releases of cartoons or films on the part of vested quarters in the West. If anything, it proves how intolerance towards other religions is growing in the West.
In this context, we welcome the response from the Vatican that as well as slamming the deaths of the US nationals has regarded the anti-Muslim elements in the film as 'provocations' and 'unjustified'. In a globalized world where most countries are inhabited by people from diverse cultures and races, religious tolerance is the prerequisite for peaceful co-existence. The responsibility for that lies as much with the East as with the West.
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