Bishop Desmond Tutu and Narges Mohammadi: In the Same Bracket
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
8 October 2023
“My father always used to say,
"Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument." Good sense does not
always lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd
is always the best arbiter of what is right.”
― Desmond Tutu
It's really a lovely coincidence that this year's Iranian
Peace Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi quoted Tutu when she was incarcerated by
the oppressive and theocratic Iranian regime. October 7 is Tutu's Birth
Anniversary. If you observe, there's a fine pattern on the part of almost all
the winners of the Nobel Peace Award (I'm not talking about Henry Kissinger,
Vietnam's Le Duc Tho, Yasser Arafat or even Obama; they were exceptions) that
they all followed a path of peace and non-violence and believed in dialogue
instead of destruction.
Like Bishop Tutu, Narges has always believed in a civilised
way of protesting and registering her dissent. This Nobel should act as a shot
in the arm of female empowerment in Islam. Congratulations to her.
Narges Mohammadi AFP - Getty Images
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Coming back to Tutu's comment:
"Good sense does not always
lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd is
always the best arbiter of what is right.”
India, at the moment, must follow and ponder over this sage
advice because the current situation is a manifestation of what the Nobel
laureate said years ago.
Legions of marauding Hindu fanatics are holding the country
to ransom. They're creating an atmosphere of terror and apprehensions and doing
nothing worthwhile. As they say, mobs have no jobs, these unruly shouters have
nothing to do. Piggybacking on unscrupulous political leaders, they're just
terrorising the meek and minorities (read Muslims).
In this chaotic bedlam, we need people like Bishop Tutu and
Narges Mohammadi who can voice their concerns in a peaceful and sagacious
manner. We don't want belligerent Owaisis or scores of militant Hindus Sadhus
and Sadhvis. Instead, we're in need of voices of sense and sanity who can fight
relentlessly like Narges and Tutu without rancour and revenge. We want a
civilised world free of rascals who're ruling the roost.
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A regular
columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/bishop-tutu-narges-mohammadi/d/130852
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