India condemns pastor's move

 
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, deploring Pastor Terry Jones’s plan to burn copies of Quran on September 11, appealed to “both print and visual media” to refrain from telecasting visuals or publishing photographs of the act.

He urged the media to exercise “great restraint” over the coverage of the act to help maintain communal peace and harmony. “It is totally unbecoming of anyone who claims to be a man of religion. We hope the United States authorities will take strong action to prevent such an outrage being committed,” Chidambaram said.

“While we await the action of the United States authorities, we would appeal to the media in India — both print and visual—to refrain from telecasting visuals or publishing photographs of the deplorable act,” he said in a statement.

“No one who is interested in maintaining harmony and peace among different sections of the people can condone such an action,” he said.

United States Secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the Vatican also urged the pastor to reverse his decision.