Sir, - Your correspondent, Patsy McGarry, was right to comment on the glaring discrepancy between the fate of Salman Rushdie and that of a large number of the Baha'i community in Iran (The Irish Times, October 2nd).
While welcoming the Iranian government's change of position regarding the fatwah pronounced against Salman Rushdie, with all that it means for the writer himself, his family and friends, and the cause of free speech worldwide, we should not forget this persecuted minority whose only demand is that they should be allowed to practise their faith. With the men named by your correspondent, we should remember Dhabihullah Mahrami, sentenced to death two years ago for "antistate activities", that is to say, for being a member of the Baha'i community. He is still alive; but who knows when the injustice of his imprisonment may suddenly be transformed into the final and irreversible injustice of execution?
Salman Rushdie's was a highprofile case, which had become an embarrassment to a government anxious to repair bridges, but whose attitude of cruel cynicism can only be viewed with outrage and despair by the Baha'i community and their friends throughout the world. - Yours, etc.,
Pat Little,
Blackrock-Dun Laoghaire Amnesty International,
Clarinda Park West,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.