Since the SP had denied permission for silent protest and since section 144 was imposed in the city, the protesters had to arrive at the DC’s office to hold protest separately. Most of the shops owned by Muslims remained closed on Thursday.
A group led by former MLA K M Ibrahim met the Deputy Commissioner K H Ashwathnarayana Gowda and submitted a memorandum and said that the newspaper has published derogatory article on ‘purdah,’ which has been an integral part of Islamic culture. Further, the statements written in the article are imaginative and far from truth and they also made derogatory reference to Mohommad Paigambar, which has hurt the sentiments of Muslims. They said that the articles written by Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Islam are usually derogatory and talk ill about the religion.
Protesters added that Islam religion looks upon women with lot of respect and the article says that Islam insults and does not treat women as equals.
“The article states that there is no religious connection between Islam and purdah, which is far from truth. There is no confusion or struggle within the religion over the purdah. It has not been imposed on women at all and there has been no need so far to discuss the issue at all,” the protesters said and added that the article was published only with the aim of spoiling the harmony in the region.
Inquiry must
They said that the article has been opposed sternly by all Muslims and demanded COD inquiry into the same so as to expose the reason behind printing the article. They demanded action against the newspapers as well as the editors.
DH News Service