Editor,
Apropos to the article “Religion and Society” by Fabian Lyngdoh published in your esteem daily dated 07.11.2013, I would like to clarify the misconception of Mr. F.Lyngdoh that Islam was spread by sword. Islam has given respect and freedom to every religion as it says,”There shall be no compulsion in religion, truth stands clear before falsehood”.(Al-Quran 2:56)
The noted historian De Lacy O’Leary wrote in his book ‘Islam at the Crossroads’ pg-8, ” History makes it clear that the legend of fanatical muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated”.
Indonesia and Malaysia are the countries where no muslim army ever went. It is an established historical fact that Indonesians entered Islam not due to war but because of its moral message. Muslims ruled India for about 1000 years and therefore had the power to force each and every non-muslims of India to convert to Islam but they did not and thus 80% of the Indians remain non-muslims. No muslim army was ever dispatched east coast of Africa yet Islam spread therein.
Today the fastest growing religion in America and Europe is Islam. The Muslims in these lands are in minority , the only sword they have in their possession is the sword of truth. In Arab alone there are about 14 million Coptic Christians who have been practicing the religion fearlessly without any kind of pressure from any quarter whatsoever. If Islam was spread by the sword it was the sword of intellect and convincing arguments. It is the sword that conquered the hearts and the minds of the people.
Yours etc.,
Zaki Siddique,
Via email
Let’s look within
Editor,
I fully endorse Barnes Mawrie’s article which appeared on the 4th November in your esteemed paper – he has come up with something that I was about to put on paper. Yes, why can’t we the people be the ILP i.e. the means to control the influx? Why can’t we get the District Councils to effectively implement the existing anti influx laws? Why can’t we put a stop to benami transactions? Why don’t we work harder and better than the outsiders so that contractors would only want to employ locals? Why can we not think of paying income tax to put a stop to our women being taken advantage of? Why don’t we get our politicians to put the interest of the state ahead of their own? Why don’t all parties sit down and thrash out the issues that threaten our Jaitbynriew and list out the sacrifices that we need to make in order to save ourselves ? Unless the Jaitbynriew takes an effective part in saving itself, no law or act can save us.
Yours etc.,
D M Pariat.
Llandre, Wales
A delight for
a Shillongite
Editor,
Sunday the 10th November is a day to note in the diary. We went for an afternoon drive to Upper Shillong and there amidst the glorious pink sunset, in the distance, shimmered a very definitive “cloud”. Yet the more you looked at it, the more it resembled a snowy mountain peak! When I was growing up, my Mother said to me that in winter, on a clear day, you could see the Himalayas, even from a rooftop in Malki! I would dutifully wait for Winter time, run to the highest point of our house, and look out to the horizon to see these mighty mountains. Never saw anything!
Then I left Shillong to study abroad. People ask, where are you from? I explained Shillong, as the “foothills of the Himalayas.” My reply to one of the most touristic questions on Earth, “Can you see the Himalayas”? was always, you’ll have to visit Darjeeling for that. But this morning, on being told to look out to the north, I saw for the first time with my eyes, from a balcony in the city, the eastern Himalayan peaks.
Forgive my Geography, it may not be 100% accurate, but after some initial research, these mountains appear roughly four hundred kilometers away and that we are possibly looking at the Himalayan range of either Kanto at 7042 mts high or Takpa siri.
What a wonderful day and what a wonderful sight [recaptured]! I can answer that most touristic question in the positive now!
And, Could this be happening, because the trucks have stopped plying through the city?
Yours etc.,
Jeannette Ralte,
Via email