By Syed B. Soharwardy, Calgary, Canada
The conflict in Indonesia between Christians and Muslims has been blown out of proportion once again by the media which now seems to be going after Indonesia. The fanatics are trying to break up the largest Muslim country in the world by playing up local problems and presenting them as a major conflict between Christianity and Islam.
The media in the west often claims itself to be independent. The truth is that it enjoys total independence so far as presenting one-sided, biased and hateful images of Muslims is concerned. It would not be wrong to say that while the state and the government control the media in the Third World, money, interest groups, and the corporate world exercise control over the media in the West.
For the last two weeks a program titled ‘100 Huntley Street’ has been promoting nothing but hatred against Muslims and Islam on Global TV in Calgary. The host of the program has acquired the services of a person who claims that he was a Muslim before he converted to Christianity. This person cites Qur’anic verses out of context and makes fun of them. Clips from Shaikh Ahmed Deedat’s old speeches are also cited out of context to create confusion. The host and the producers of 100 Huntley Street do not have the courage to have a Muslim on the show who could defend Islam and rebut unfounded claims about its teachings. We are trying to contact Shaikh Ahmed Deedat andr his organization in this regard. Please help us in establishing our rapport with Shaikh Deedat in South Africa.