18 September 2006

The pope must die?

No, this is not the title of a mediocre movie. This is a battle cry issued by a character known as Anjem Choudary, who lives in UK and enjoys to the hilt the freedom of expression granted by this most liberal and enlightened monarchy. Mr Choudary holds very strong opinions regarding people who should or should not waste the oxygen supply on our planet. Here he is, in the center of the picture, using a microphone to make some of his opinions known to the public.














Oh, and lest I forget, Mr. Choudary is a lawyer in addition to his other talents, so his opinion is especially weighty.

Yesterday he said: "The Muslims take their religion very seriously and non-Muslims must appreciate that and that must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the prophet.

"Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment."

He added: "I am here have a peaceful demonstration. But there may be people in Italy or other parts of the world who would carry that out.

Being a lawyer, he obviously tried to sound as if sending a general message, but the quote above is quite damning. I am sure, though, that in a British court of law he will find enough loopholes to walk out free. And, in any case, nobody is even trying to bring him before a judge. The response of police is amazing:

A Scotland Yard spokesman said of his comments: "We have had no complaints about this. There were around 100 people at the demonstration. It passed off peacefully and there were no arrests."

Obviously it must take a stronger bite in somebody's arse to wake somebody up. On the other hand, the man is right: there were no complaints, so it seems that the citizens of UK are comfortable with Mr. Choudary's hate speech.

I am not in the habit of recommending capital punishment*, unlike our learned lawyer. However, a few years in the nick should do wonders to Mr. Choudary's disposition. And better soon, so his blood pressure could get back to normal quicker.

(*) Unless the Elders' duties proscribe administering such, of course...

Cross-posted on Yourish.com

***

0 comments: