India: Muslims threaten to cut off writer’s arm and leg if he doesn’t convert to Islam within 6 months
He has been accused of “misleading” Muslim youth. Apparently the pious Muslims who are threatening him think he is causing “corruption in the land,” as per this verse of the Qur’an: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and cause corruption in the land is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment” (5:33).
“Embrace Islam in 6 months else lose arm, leg: Threat to Malayali author,” PTI, July 22, 2017:
Thiruvananthapuram/Thrissur: A renowned Malayali author and a woman college lecturer have complained to the police of receiving threats even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said his government would not ignore threats to those who expressed progressive views.Efforts to tarnish those with progressive opinions on the social media and making death threats to them would not be accepted, Vijayan said on Facebook.“Those who feel that independent voices can be gagged by threats are living in a fool’s paradise,” he wrote.The chief minister’s statement comes in the wake of Malayali author KP Ramanunni lodging a police complaint on Friday regarding an anonymous threat letter, warning him that his right arm and left leg would be chopped off if he did not convert to Islam within six months.The letter was sent to Ramanunni’s Kozhikode residence six days ago.The writer said though there was no indication as to who was behind the letter, it was understood that it was posted from Manjeri in Malappuram district.“I am not aware of the motive behind the letter. I filed a complaint with the Kozhikode city police commissioner today, urging him to look into the matter,” he said.Ramanunni said though he had ignored the letter initially, other senior writers advised him to file the police complaint.The letter alleged that some of the recent articles written by the award-winning writer amounted to “misleading” the Muslim youth.It also warned that Ramanunni would meet the same fate as that of professor TJ Joseph, whose right arm was chopped off by the members of a radical Muslim outfit for allegedly hurting their religious sentiments through a question paper he had set.“Like TJ Joseph, your right arm will be cut off…your left leg too. You are given six months to convert to Islam. If you do not embrace Islam, we will inflict Allah’s punishment on you,” the letter said.The police said a probe was launched on the basis of Ramanunni’s complaint.The right arm of Joseph, who was a professor in the Thodupuzha Newman College, was chopped off while he was returning home from the Sunday mass at a church in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district on July 4, 2010.A novelist and short story writer, Ramanunni is a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award and Vayalar Award among other literary acclaims….
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