ONE prays President Donald Trump and the West pay heed to Dawn’s editorial ‘NZ mosque attacks’ (March 16). The sane advice is asking for “unequivocal condemnation” of terrorism without ‘whataboutery’ of colour, creed, or religion?

The terrorist who committed the mass murder hailed from Australia and his manifesto adored Trump and white-supremacist “toughies” (in Trumpian parlance) in the US. Will then New Zealand follow Indian Prime Minister Modi’s logic to attack Australia and America? The Pulwama attacker was a native Kashmiri. Yet Pakistan was pilloried?

A terrorist could belong to any religion or creed. The Jews (later cornered at Masada) publicly slit selected Romans’ throats. In seventeenth century India, the thugs strangulated gullible passersby to please the Hindu goddess Kali. And the 19th-century adherents of Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) mercilessly killed their pro-Tsar rivals. Modern examples of religious terrorists are Rabbi Meir Kahane, Baruch Goldstein and Yigal Amir and Aum Shinrikyo of the Japanese doomsday cult. And while on the subject, how come Americans preaching extremism are never labelled Christian terrorists.

History tells us a terrorist could belong to any religion or state. However, it is only Pakistan that tries and hangs people for terrorism. In New Zealand, the USA, et. al. terrorists are put on trial only for ‘murder’.

Deeba Mahjabeen Mengal
Islamabad

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NO words can describe the horror perpetrated in Christchurch. One wonders how one of the world’s safest countries could be targeted by a lone terrorist.

The West seems to have a serious affliction of Islamophobia to the extent that it has become schizophrenic and imagines it is seeing a crescent in every nook and corner.

Muslim countries need to stand as one and demand the same respect for Muslims and their beliefs enjoyed by the other five billion plus people on this planet. This is a serious problem that should be item Number One on the United Nations’ agenda.

Wajahat Abro
Shikarpur

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019