Recently in the southern part of the southernmost state of India, Kerala, in the heartland of probably Asia's most powerful Christian community, a Christian Professor's wrist was chopped off by members of a radical Muslim organization because he set a question in a college exam that was offensive to Muslims. The exam paper was for graduate economic students and the subject was the local language Malayalam. The question had asked the students to properly punctuate four lines of a drama sequence. The lines were actually taken from a book of a somewhat acclaimed writer, himself a Muslim. The original question was popped to God by a character simply called madcap. But in the lines set by the Professor, this character was renamed Mohammad. The God-Mohammad dialogue went like this:
Mohammad: Oh Creator, Oh Creator [Malayalee Muslims often call God this way].
God: Yes, you pesky dog? [the actual Malayalam phrase alludes to a *****'s son].
Mohammad: If I cut a fish, how many pieces of fish would I have?
God: You dog, how many times have I told you that you would have three pieces?
When the somewhat well-known Muslim writer who was also a Communist leader wrote the same thing, except he did not call the character Mohammad but simply madcap, there was no controversy at all. But in this instance, there was an instant uproar in the minority Muslim community when the students went home and showed the question paper. The Kerala government (a communist one) acted fast to seek to diffuse the situation by immediately asking the college to suspend the Professor, which they promptly did. The Christian community largely condemned the professor for his insensitive question paper and concluded him to be an idiot. Meanwhile, a particular Muslim organization bayed for the Professor's blood and the Professor went into hiding. Sensing the mood, the police had to arrest the Professor without delay and used the rather immoral technique of picking up the professor's son and torturing him. News of this naturally made the professor surface and surrender before the police. The fellow was in lock-up and the case went to the court. Meanwhile he was given bail and on a Sunday morning was returning from Church with his wife and sister (who was a nun) in a vehicle. The vehicle was waylaid by about 10-15 men in another vehicle, who stepped out and in a macabre display of Shariat resolution, chopped the professor's right wrist, the very one with which he presumably set the question paper. He was rushed to hospital and was in serious condition due to blood loss. They managed to save his life and also sew back his palms. It is now almost a month and he is still in hospital.
This is the first time that such a Taliban like action has been carried out in India. Many here would say that this is a stray incident and it would seem so. But actually this is only the climax, maybe the first of many future climaxes, unless nipped in the bud. The build up and occasional display of Muslim organizational prowess is causing disquiet even among normally politically-correct quarters. Something further on the same lines may trigger a backlash, God forbid.
Mohammad: Oh Creator, Oh Creator [Malayalee Muslims often call God this way].
God: Yes, you pesky dog? [the actual Malayalam phrase alludes to a *****'s son].
Mohammad: If I cut a fish, how many pieces of fish would I have?
God: You dog, how many times have I told you that you would have three pieces?
When the somewhat well-known Muslim writer who was also a Communist leader wrote the same thing, except he did not call the character Mohammad but simply madcap, there was no controversy at all. But in this instance, there was an instant uproar in the minority Muslim community when the students went home and showed the question paper. The Kerala government (a communist one) acted fast to seek to diffuse the situation by immediately asking the college to suspend the Professor, which they promptly did. The Christian community largely condemned the professor for his insensitive question paper and concluded him to be an idiot. Meanwhile, a particular Muslim organization bayed for the Professor's blood and the Professor went into hiding. Sensing the mood, the police had to arrest the Professor without delay and used the rather immoral technique of picking up the professor's son and torturing him. News of this naturally made the professor surface and surrender before the police. The fellow was in lock-up and the case went to the court. Meanwhile he was given bail and on a Sunday morning was returning from Church with his wife and sister (who was a nun) in a vehicle. The vehicle was waylaid by about 10-15 men in another vehicle, who stepped out and in a macabre display of Shariat resolution, chopped the professor's right wrist, the very one with which he presumably set the question paper. He was rushed to hospital and was in serious condition due to blood loss. They managed to save his life and also sew back his palms. It is now almost a month and he is still in hospital.
This is the first time that such a Taliban like action has been carried out in India. Many here would say that this is a stray incident and it would seem so. But actually this is only the climax, maybe the first of many future climaxes, unless nipped in the bud. The build up and occasional display of Muslim organizational prowess is causing disquiet even among normally politically-correct quarters. Something further on the same lines may trigger a backlash, God forbid.
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