Showing their concern
I am sure anyone who reads the Independent will have heard of Parwiz Kambakhsh, the Afghan student jailed (and at one point threatened with the death penalty) for supposed blasphemy, which allegedly involved downloading “a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed” (sall’ Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). He distributed the tract to fellow students at Balkh University, and was arrested when a religious complaint was made. His brother, Yaqub Ibrahimi, has written articles for the British-funded Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in Lashkar Gar, Helmand province, accusing “senior public figures, including an MP, of atrocities, including murders”.
The “Iranian Secular Society” has arranged a demonstration tomorrow (Friday 8th Feb) at the Afghan embassy at 31 Princes Gate, London SW7, at noon, to continue until 2pm. Anyone notice something unusual? Yes, it coincides with the Friday prayer, just so that hardly any Muslims (except perhaps a few ladies who either do not go to the prayer or cannot because of the time of the month) will be in attendance. If they were to time it for, say, 2:30pm, they might well have a greater number of attendees, because by all accounts Parwiz Kambakhsh is an innocent man being punished for things his brother wrote about various Afghan politicians. But this front group for the Worker-Communist Party of Iran (Maryam Namazie’s and Houzan Mahmood’s set) is more concerned about showing Muslims in a bad light than saving a man’s life.
Possibly Related Posts:
- More on “segregation” pseudo-controversy
- WCPI @ Trafalgar Square: it was tiny after all
- Organise against the WCPI “One Law” campagin
- Woolas: “appease the far right!”
- Communists for freedom at Conway Hall
