This refers to the story “Seven years of development.” It made a very interesting reading. During his seven-year reign, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has taken the country to a new height. There have been many achievements notably in economy, higher education, women’s rights, unemployment allowance, etc. However, as a foreigner who spent some time in Saudi Arabia, I wish to present some other notable achievements that touched many an expatriate’s heart.
One of them was his initiative in organizing the interfaith dialogue by sponsoring international conferences in Saudi Arabia.
He also took the bold step of introducing the railways to the heart of Saudi Arabia that will soon crisscross from north to south and east to west and create a revolution in transport as well as infrastructure development for several more years.
His initiatives in promoting the spirit of invention and scientific approach by establishing world class King Abdullah University of Science & Technology is noteworthy. He also presided over the smooth transition of succession matters with Prince Naif becoming the crown prince. For Indians, his visit to New Delhi on the occasion of the Republic Day when he was the chief guest as well as the reciprocal visit of Dr. Manmohan Singh are indelible memories.
I was one of the fortunate few amongst Indians who could see King Abdullah in person at close quarters both in New Delhi and in Jeddah during public appearances. A research topic named after him by Saudi universities on Indo-Saudi relations can be considered as several million Indians have benefited economically from this special relationship over the past 40 years.
P.B. Varadharajan
Chennai, India
Distorting Muslims’ image
The column “Bin Laden’s ghost” (May 13) was an enlightening read. The whole episode looks like a drama written and directed by superpowers. There are so many hidden reasons behind this costly game of killing people. It’s a script written for the specific purpose of labeling all Muslims as fanatics, terrorists and fundamentalists. Our minds, unfortunately, continue to be enslaved by imperial forces and its culture, we have to understand that our sovereignty is limited to the extent we allow our thinking to be influenced by the same messed-up powers responsible for today’s situation. As an unbiased citizen of this global village, I find it sad even after the completion of one decade since 9/11, fair enquiry has not been conducted nor have the Muslims proved themselves to be above suspicion. It is high time that America and its ally realized that they cannot uproot Islam. Muslims will not give up Islam and instead will continue the responsibility to propagate the noble message to the world in an unapologetic manner.
Saif Ul Islam Farooqui
Riyadh
2
I congratulate the author on writing a wonderful article. I am very sorry to learn that tens of men are dying in my country because of this so-called “War on Terror.” Unfortunately, we have lost more than 40,000 people in this war and almost more than 5,000 policemen and armed forces. Our economy is in a very bad state with estimates of losses nearing 60-70 billion dollars. Our industry, our tourism — every thing is in shambles. And the worst part is we still are told to “do more.” Among those who attacked on 9/11 no one was a Pakistani nor did we ever give a red carpet welcome to Osama Bin Laden. Why then all this bloodshed in Pakistan? We Pakistanis are peace-loving people. However, this blame game and this propaganda against Pakistan and its people is very unfortunate. I hope and pray that it comes to an end very soon, Insha’Allah. I request media persons to write about the positive things happening in Pakistan. The media show only the negative side and thrive on that. We are the ones who are blamed for every bad thing and no one talks about our losses and sorrows. Pakistanis have and will always stand with their Arab brothers in any hour of need. May Allah help us all. Ameen.
Dr. Babar Mumtaz
By e-mail
Letters to the Editor: King of hearts
