Penulis 
It takes a superhuman feat for a Black Muslim migrant to be deemed worthy, Online, May 29
The headline on Shree Paradkar’s column
tells me all I need to know about her: that she is a right-thinking,
honest and brave woman to mention that the hero is a Muslim.
Most media have avoided mentioning he is
a Muslim, but I am sure they would have highlighted his Muslim identity
if he were alleged to be a terrorist.
I am a fan of the amazing Indian writer, Arundhati Roy, and now I hold Shree Paradkar in the same high esteem.
Meer Sahib, London, Ont.
Shree Paradkar is right: It’s not enough
for a Black man, in this case a Black Muslim man, to be human. He had
to be superhuman to be considered worthy of simply existing in France.
Not a single media outlet that I came across has mentioned Mamoudou
Gassama’s faith.
Muslims only get undivided attention and
unlimited coverage when they are accused of creating mischief. Even
when they are exonerated from the mischief, it becomes unworthy to
report.
But the good things they do, the lives
they save, whether in hospital operating rooms or climbing buildings
like Spider-Man, faith is buried in the sand. It is as if would
contradict the version the media tries to promote and sell that Muslims
are always prone to do bad things.
Kudos to Paradkar for raising an issue
that makes many media outlets uncomfortable to even mention, let alone
discuss. This is why the Star and its columnists have attained the
respect they deserve.
There many similar stories of Muslims’
contributions but, unfortunately, there are few honest journalists like
Paradkar with a sense of integrity to cover them.
Abubakar N. Kasim, Toronto
Shree Paradkar makes some valid
comments, but omits others. Ideally, every country should embrace a
policy that smooths the way for refugees to become full citizens. But
Canada, the U.S. and other New World countries are accustomed to
immigration; they were built on it. France and the old countries of
Europe are not. Rightly or wrongly, they fear that immigrants will
dilute their millennia-old cultures, so they tend to be more selective.
So yes, Mamoudou Gassama was Black and
Muslim. But that just happens to be where the refugees are coming from.
Is Ms. Paradkar absolutely certain the situation would not have been the
same had he been white and Christian, but still a refugee?
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