Afghan Koran distributor arrested

[Harold Schiffman]

Afghan Koran distributor arrested
By Alix Kroeger
BBC News, Kabul



The distributor of a new translation of the Koran has been arrested
after complaints from religious scholars that the new edition was
un-Islamic. Former journalist Ghows Zalmay is also the spokesman for
Afghanistan's attorney general. He was arrested on the border on
Sunday while trying to flee into Pakistan.
Demonstrators protested in two Afghan provinces against the new
translation of the Koran into Dari, one of Afghanistan's two official
languages.

Religious scholars are outraged at the new edition of the Muslim holy
book. They say that it is un-Islamic, that it misinterprets verses
about alcohol, begging, homosexuality and adultery. They also complain
that it does not contain the original version in Arabic as a parallel
text for comparison. Both houses of the Afghan parliament have held
emergency debates. Senators have called for Mr Zalmay and the
translator, himself a mullah, to be punished. One said Mr Zalmay was
"worse than Salman Rushdie", whose book, The Satanic Verses, caused
widespread outrage in the Islamic world.  Another said Mr Zalmay was
under the protection of a foreign security company.

In the northern city of Taloqan 1,500 university students took to the
streets in protest, while in the south-east province of Nimruz 1,000
local people, including several mullahs, took part in a demonstration.
The Afghan constitution enshrines freedom of expression, but for many
Afghans that freedom has clear limits and they do not include making
interpretive translations of the Koran.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7077892.stm


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