Sunday Sep 27, 2026
Sunday Sep 27, 2026
Saturday, 26 September 2026 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By M. A. Kaleel
A street vendor from Kalmunai, who kicked a dog accompanying a Tamil pilgrimage to Kataragama, was handed a three-month prison sentence suspended for five years, and fined Rs. 100 under the Cruelty to Animals Act by Kalmunai Magistrate K. L. M. Sajith last Monday.
The suspect, a Muslim, initially apologised to the dog's owner, who remained unsatisfied. The suspect was subsequently produced before the Kalmunai Magistrate Court and released on a surety bail of Rs. 50,000.
This incident sparked a social media outcry calling for stringent police action against the suspect, which ultimately escalated into a heated online debate between some followers and non-followers of Islam. Amid the tension, a social media activist Sivarasa Anojan, hailing from Natpiddimunai in Kalmunai, who is currently working in Saudi Arabia, posted in Tamil a highly defamatory comment about Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, on Facebook. Upon realising that his comment had deeply offended the followers of Islam, he deleted the post and issued an open apology on his Facebook page.
A group of Muslims badly offended by his comment defaming their Prophet brought it to the attention of the Sharia Court in Saudi Arabia. The court sentenced him to 5 years in prison and imposed a fine of 3 million Saudi Riyals. Now, following an appeal by his parents, his sentence has been increased to death. Under Sharia-based blasphemy laws, the penalty for defaming Prophet Muhammad (blasphemy) is execution. Saudi Arabia's appellate courts have recently upgraded cybercrime sentences to the death penalty when a social media post is interpreted as an offense of defaming the Prophet Muhammad.
Social media users and politicians are currently blaming the Government for not taking action to save Anojan's life; however, addressing such situations is far more complex than simply posting on Facebook.
(The writer is a retired president of a National College of Education)
