It’s what happens when one form of fanaticism collides with another. The Times of India reports:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (Peta) first shot at religious activism — a call to Muslims to observe a vegetarian Eid this October — has misfired. It met with violent protests here [in Bhopal] on Monday.
One policeman was injured and a Peta volunteer roughed up by protestors, which included women, and later whisked away by Bhopal police.
Peta woman volunteer “Benazir Suraiya” attempted to make an appeal to Muslims to go vegetarian at the legendary Taj-ul-Masajid, said to be one of Asia’s largest mosques.
Camouflaged in a green hijab, to highlight the importance of vegetarianism, she walked towards the mosque gates with a couple of PETA volunteers holding a placard in Urdu and English which read: “Make Eid Happy for All. Try Vegan”.
There are no winners in this story. In fact, everyone loses. Suraiya was lucky to come away in one piece. The crowd for its part reinforced all the negative stereotypes about Islam that clueless defenders like Barack Obama are seeking to debunk as myth. Doubtless, they found Suraiya’s pitch as welcome as those of us around during the days of the Hare Krishnas found their proselytizing at airports. But couldn’t they simply respond to the unsolicited hard sell by saying “no” or “not interested”?
(h/t Weasel Zippers)
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