Mr. Javed I. Chaudry in his comments ( # 067 ) dated March 17,  compares the anti-new-labour-law protests in France with the anti-cartoon protests in Muslim countries.

Though he does not give, explicitly,  the reason and logic of this comparison, yet to my simple mind the implicate reason appears to be two fold :

1. Try to dilute and justify the hooligan type of behavior by Muslims during their Anti-cartoon protests and

2. To complain that when Muslims are protesting it becomes Religious (Islamic) while the protest of students and their supporters is not considered Religious (Christian).

It is quite common to find fault in others to justify one’s own. Even the top boss of Pakistan used this tactic in the case of Mukhtaran Mai. He claimed that the gang-rape is the world problem and he wanted to organise a world conference. If the car burning and window smashing is bad, it is bad either it is done by Pakistani Muslims or by French Students. One’s (Muslim’s) bad act does not become justified because some others (students) have done the same thing. Two bad acts do not cancel each other or diminish one and enhance the other.

All the protests do not have the  cause. So, all of them can not be put in the same bag. The students in France are protesting for their social civil rights and nothing else. These have nothing to do with Islam, Christianity or Judaism. So, it will be wrong to call them religious protests.

The anti-cartoon protests are against the act of blasphemy (caricature od the Prophet Muhammd). It is proclaimed by the protesters themselves that they are protesting for Islam. Do we have the right to deprive them of their religious obligations?

Regards.

Muhammad Ahsan Khan

Strasbourg, France