Religious intolerance, the bane of humanity

IT IS with horror and disgust that we learn of the heinous and barbaric acts of violence committed against minority families in various districts in Bangladesh, including the horrific murder of Iskcon member Partha Das and other members of the Iskcon movement.

These brutally savage and blackhearted acts reflect the poverty of a mindset steeped in Islamic fundamentalism that has no place in civil society the world over.

It is criminality at its worst. Religious intolerance has become the bane of humanity in a global theatre, playing out evil acts every day, and this deserves universal censure.

In a world seeking human cohesion and peace, it is such repulsive and repugnant acts of inhumanity that diminish the value of what we all have come to expect from decent human beings. These attacks are nothing more than the craven abdication of a common humanity that we all share and must respect.

I validate the sentiment of the multitudes of civilised South Africans as well as those good people from across the globe in unequivocally and categorically condemning these acts that have occurred in your country under the watch of your government.

Malicious and religiously motivated violence is as intolerable as it is unacceptable and I would speak for millions, if not billions, across the world in demanding that the government of Bangladesh acts immediately, unleashing its security apparatus to apprehend these abominable perpetrators who must be brought to book and punished accordingly.

I trust that the moral and ethical code of human decency prevails in Bangladesh and that the authorities will be expeditious in ensuring that swift justice is meted out.

The gravitas of these unjustifiable acts of evil cannot be underplayed or ignored and the responsibility rests on the Bangladesh government to ensure that such acts are never to be repeated against innocent and God-fearing people, only in the name of fundamentalism and intolerance.

I once again reiterate wholly the utter disdain and disgust felt by the world community that has invoked the wrath and anger brought about by these detestable and flagitious acts by Bangladesh fundamentalists upon fellow citizens.

I await fervently a speedy response in both word and action.

NARENDH GANESH

Durban North