Azhar Ahmed’s conviction shows the dangers of poisonous Facebook communication

Azhar Ahmed, the British national hailing from West Yorkshire, has been sentenced by a UK court for posting a dishonourable Facebook message, subsequent to the deaths of six British soldiers in Afghanistan in March due to an improvised explosive device (IED), which was implanted by Afghan insurgents.

Azhar Ahmed will have to perform 240 hours of community service over 24 months. He will also have to shell out a penalty of £300, as commanded by Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court.

The 20-year-old Ahmed was declared guilty in September for his Facebook message, which District Judge Jane Goodwin referred to as disrespectful, inflammatory and derogatory. The court deemed that his Facebook message was extremely malicious.

The Facebook message of Azhar Ahmed, which has led to his conviction, is as follows: “All soldiers should die and go to hell.” Ahmed posted this incendiary communication on the social networking site on March 8 after the lethal attack on the British soldiers in Afghanistan on March 6.

Ahmed has defended himself nonetheless, voicing that his Facebook message was inoffensive. Ahmed was charged after the mother of one of the killed soldiers read his posting. She was highly saddened and disturbed, which led her to the police to initiate a plaint.

Ahmed has tried to defend himself by uttering that he was only attempting to highlight the issue of numerous Afghan civilian deaths in the NATO military strikes during the ongoing war in Afghanistan. The Afghan civilian casualties were being overlooked by the UK media, as per the convict Azhar Ahmed.

Ahmed has voiced that he apologised to those people on Facebook, who were offended by his objectionable posting. They had told him angrily and poignantly that they had lost kith and kin too in the war in Afghanistan.

This issue highlights the perils of posting odious Facebook messages. Azhar Ahmed has been convicted for it, which spotlights the issue of ordinary Muslim opposition in the UK to the war in Afghanistan, in which the UK military has been enacting a vital role since 2001.

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