Letters to the Editor

42 Letter to the Editor Dear Sir, I had the privilege of viewing the proceedings of Sindbi Adabi Mela on television. The Mela was so well organised that I remained spellbound throughout the telecast of the proceedings. Dr. N. A. Baduch read a scholarly thesis in which he traced the early cultural history of Sind linking it with the ancient culture of Egypt and the Middle East. He said “that the same type of cloth used to be woven as in Sind and the Middle East before the coming of Jesus Christ. As proof of his contraction he said that when Jesus Christ was taken off the cross, the shroud or the piece of cloth in which his body was wrapped was of the same type and texture that used to be woven in Sind in those early days.” However, a majority of Muslims believe that Jesus was never put on the cross. Instead, another person who looked like Jesus, or who had, by God’s design, mysteriously and miraculously acquired the exact bodily resemblance to Jesus, was put on the cross and Jesus was raised to heaven to thwart the scheme of the Jews to nail him on the cross. It is the Christians who believe that Jesus was put on the cross and when his dead body was taken off the cross it was wrapped in a cotton shroud. This shroud, according to the Christians is still preserved in a church in Turin, a city of Italy. This shroud is exhibited to the public every thirty three years. It may perhaps be of interest to researchers that this shroud contains many large and small blood stains on it. It has also been stated by chemical analysis that these stains are of human blood. Irrespective of the conflicting beliefs of Jews, Muslims and Christians, with regard to the crucifixion of Jesus, it seems to be essential and no less expedient, that a thorough and rational enquiry should be made in this respect in the light of the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Bible to sort out fact from fiction with regard to the execution or otherwise of Jesus Christ. One cannot help wondering why this part of Dr. Baduch’s scholarly address was not reported in the press. Khursheed Ahmed Bajwa Okara, Bajwa House ‘F’ Block