Radicalisation Of Indian Muslims

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In contrast of the above the following media report from the Indian Press is worth noting
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Issue over, forgive him: UP Muslims

Castel Gandolfo (Italy), Sept. 17: Pope Benedict XVI said on Sunday he was “deeply sorry” about the angry reaction sparked by his speech about Islam and holy war and said the text did not reflect his personal opinion. “These (words) were in fact a quotation from a medieval text which do not in any way express my personal thought,” the Pope told pilgrims at his summer palace outside Rome.

He noted that the Vatican secretary of State on Saturday had issued a statement trying to explain his words, which Benedict had delivered on Tuesday in a speech during a pilgrimage to his native Bavaria. “I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.”

[Prominent Muslim clerics in Uttar Pradesh said the issue should now be considered closed in view of the Pope’s apology, PTI reports from Lucknow. “Now that the Pope has tendered an apology, Muslims should also forgive him,” said Naib Imam of Idgah Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahali on Sunday. “The issue should be considered closed after the Pope’s apology,” he said.]

Speaking about his pilgrimage last week, he said: “At this time I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims.” At the German university, where he had been a theology professor, Benedict, quoting from an obscure medieval text, cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterised some of the teachings of Prophet Mohammed as “evil and inhuman”.

“While anger over the Pope’s remarks is necessary, it shouldn’t last long, because while he is the head of the Catholic Church in the world, many Europeans are not following (the church) so what he said won’t influence them,” Mohammed Mahdi Akef, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, said. Anger and violence — including attacks on seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza — represented the biggest international crisis to rock the Vatican in decades, and the Vatican appeared determined to move quickly to try to defuse the anger.
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