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By Deshai Botheju, Ph.D. M.Sc.Tech.(Norway), M.Sc., B.Sc.Eng. (1st Hons., UoM), AIChE, AMIE(SL) deshaibotheju@acses.org
Recent explosions and gas leak accidents related to domestic LP gas cylinders have created an environment of fear, anxiety, and social unrest throughout the country. More than 400 explosions and gas leak incidents have been reported during the first week of December 2021. In addition, a large number of observations have been made with respect to leaking gas cylinder valves.
The reported accidents and incidents can be divided into four major categories: (a) Sudden gas explosions inside houses and building, (b) Sudden explosions associated with the gas cooker, (c) Major gas leaks and resulting damages associated with the regulator and the hoses, (d) Minor gas leaks from the cylinder valve, regulator, or the hoses. The number of accidents reported during a single week has far exceeded the typical gas-related accidents happening within a typical year. Something must have gone terribly wrong for Sri Lankan LP gas consumers. Unconfirmed reports now indicate potential deaths, associated with some of these gas explosion accidents.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas, abbreviated LPG, is an energy carrier derived during crude oil refining or natural gas processing. In petroleum industry terminology these are called gas condensates and are byproducts often generated during the production of liquid fuels (gasoline, diesel, and kerosene) or natural gas (methane). The key components of typical LP gas are propane (an alkane gas containing three carbon atoms – C3H8) and butane (an alkane gas containing four carbon atoms – C4H10). In addition, small amounts of propylene, methane, pentane and other minor constituents can be present. LP gases do not originally have a clearly recognizable distinct odour. Therefore, in order to identify any gas leaks, methyl mercaptan (CH3SH), or a similar odour generating component, is added to LP gas before commercial use. Table 1 provides a useful comparison between propane and butane, with respect to key physical or chemical properties.
Depending on the refinery process, or intended use, LP gas can have a widely varying propane and butane composition. Under normal atmospheric pressure, butane has a higher boiling point of minus 0.5 degrees Celsius (-0.5) compared to propane’s minus 42 degrees Celsius (-42) boiling point. That means in colder climates, where the ambient temperature could go below 0 degrees Celsius, the LP gas must mostly contain propane in order to use that as a fuel gas (otherwise it wouldn’t flow as a gas, as butane would remain in the cylinder as a liquid). Therefore, the butane content is greatly reduced in LP gas used in colder climate countries, typically less than five percent of the volume. For tropical countries, like Sri Lanka, having a high butane content is just fine, as the year-round temperature is almost always above zero degrees Celsius (except for some rare occasions in locations at higher altitudes). Further, butane is a much safer gas to use. This is due to its much lower vapour pressure (31 pound per square inch) compared to that of propane (124.5 psi). Therefore, the containment integrity requirements shall be much stricter for propane use, compared to butane. (figure I)
Composition changes and pressure effects
Unlike compressed gas cylinders, LP gas cylinders are not filled with 100 percent gas. Instead, a new cylinder would contain the liquids, hence the name LP gas, to about 85 percent volume. Only the remaining 15 percent ullage volume (the volume left empty in a tank for the liquid to expand) contains actual gas. These two phases (liquid and gas) are in equilibrium. The pressure within this gas filled ullage is the equilibrium pressure of the corresponding liquid mixture (of propane and butane). This equilibrium pressure can be predicted based on the ambient temperature and the composition of the liquid phase. Table 2 provides the values of these equilibrium pressures (in pounds per square inch gauge or psig) for different propane-butane mixtures at the temperature of 32 degrees Celsius (which is quite close to the typical ambient temperature in Sri Lanka). (Figure II)
As can be seen from Table 2, at 32 oC temperature, a mixture of 80 percent butane and 20 percent propane has an equilibrium pressure of 53.6 psig. This was the composition used in Sri Lanka for a long time. All appliances (including gas cookers), pressure regulators, hoses, hose connectors, gas cylinder valves and cylinders have been accustomed to this pressure condition. In other words, our consumer gas utility system has been calibrated at this pressure condition. Nevertheless, gas cylinders themselves are manufactured to tolerate a much higher pressure.
If the butane-propane composition is suddenly changed to 50 % butane and 50 % propane, now the increased propane content leads to a much higher equilibrium pressure of 89.4 psig. It is obvious that this is a very significant pressure increase from the previous condition.
Increased propane content leads to a significant increase in gas pressure inside the cylinder. This is because propane has a much higher equilibrium vapour pressure compared to butane (see Table 1). Now, the whole utility system on the part of the customers faces a containment integrity problem. In other words, gas leaks are likely to happen from many of the system components. Table 3 elaborates potential impacts of this pressure increase on different system components. Figure 1 further illustrates potential leak sources and pathways associated with the gas cylinder valve. (Figures III and IV)
What happens during a gas leak?
Propane and butane are flammable and combustible gases, when mixed with air (or oxygen). Within the approximate volume percentages of 2 to 10 percent (within LEL- Lower explosive limit and UEL – Upper explosive limit), these gases can create an explosive gas mixture when exposed to air; see Table 1. Outside of this volume percentage range, the gas would not ignite. However, at higher gas concentrations, the gas cloud can still pose an asphyxiation hazard to humans as it displaces breathable oxygen in air.
Even a minor gas leak in the cylinder valve, regulator, or any other component (see Table 3 and Figure 1) can lead to the accumulation of the gas inside a building, over several hours. Note that both propane and butane gases are higher in density compared to air (heavier than air; see specific gravity values shown in Table 1). Which means, when a gas leak occurs the explosive gas cloud accumulates close to ground level (rather than moving upward and dissipating). This situation is more likely to occur at night when doors and windows are closed, with consequently little or no ventilation. If the leaked cloud of gas reaches the concentration of LEL within that surrounding (for example a kitchen), then it is a bomb waiting to be triggered at any time. The only thing required is a small spark, which may occur when an electrical switch makes contact (on or off), or even due to static electricity present in the atmosphere, or due to an actual flame such as lighting a match. At that moment, an explosive combustion reaction occurs within the flammable gas cloud and the energy released is transmitted as a pressure wave accompanied often by a fireball. This is a typical atmospheric gas cloud explosion. Secondary damage can occur due to projectiles (broken glass for example), prolonged fires, collapsing roofs and walls.
Changing an existing LP gas composition without a detailed safety assessment is an act of sheer negligence bordering on absurdity. It’s a fundamental process engineering principle to follow a comprehensive Management of Change (MoC) protocol before making this kind of, or even far less consequential, change to a product, process, or an operating procedure. Even a Process Engineering Trainee can explain this to production management. As part of an MoC process, it is absolutely necessary to conduct a dedicated risk assessment or a standard safety study such as ‘HAZards and Operability’ (HAZOP). Had such HAZOP been conducted in this case, many of the problems we have indicated in Table 3 could have been identified in advance, avoiding calamity in consequence.
Cost factor and energy contents
The heat energy contents of propane and butane are respectively 49.58 and 47.39 megajoules per kilogram (MJ/kg). However, the density of liquid propane and butane are 0.51 and 0.58 kilograms per litre (kg/L) respectively. That means due to the lower density of propane compared to butane, propane has a slightly lower energy content when based on volume (25.3 and 27.5 MJ/L respectively). Propane burns with a slightly higher flame temperature compared to butane (1980 vs 1970 oC). In certain gas burners, propane could burn with slightly higher efficiency compared to butane (with less deposition of carbon).
If calculated based on the heat energy content delivered (measured by BTU-British Thermal Units), propane is often a cheaper energy commodity compared to butane in the world energy market. Therefore, an LP gas mixture rich in propane can be cheaper. LP gases with more propane are also easier to procure. While per BTU price is cheaper, if calculated based on metric ton price, one can be misled to believe that propane is more expensive than butane. This becomes a false assumption if all gas pricing and market economics are based on the value of BTUs (energy) delivered to the customer (customer is made to pay for the heat energy content delivered to them, and not for the weight of the gas). Also note that the exact price of a certain LPG shipment can be very different from the typical spot prices prevailing in the world energy market.
Every organisation has a certain safety culture. Without going into detailed academic definitions of the safety culture concept, we can still try to understand different characteristics of good (positive) safety cultures in comparison to bad (negative) safety cultures.
In a good safety culture Management of Change protocols are always followed; when an accident or an incident occurs, it will always be investigated to the fullest extent and all lessons to be earned are extracted; transparency and honesty are always maintained; instead of finger pointing, their own faults are admitted; no attempts are made at concealing information; safety is always given priority over marginal economic gains. In contrast, the complete opposite of these is to be expected of an organisation with a negative safety culture.
Any investigation into the recent series of unfortunate gas related accidents in Sri Lanka must not stop at merely identifying plausible physical causes. Such investigation must definitely look deeper into related organisational factors, and make necessary recommendations to bring about much needed organisational reforms in the form of enhancing safety culture. In addition, more systematic safety management requirements and stricter regulatory reforms must be recommended to avoid repetition of this kind of ‘organizationally rooted accidents’. Failing to do so may lead to greater disasters of higher magnitude in future. Prompt compensation to those who faced harm must be a priority. Even more urgent is to recall every single gas cylinder delivered with hazardous pressure conditions, irrespective of whether the gas has been used or not. As explained before, LP gas cylinders will retain the same high pressure condition until the last drop of liquid is vaporised. Therefore, unused as well as almost fully used gas cylinders will pose the same level of leaking hazard.
(Facts presented in this article are based on information available on the public domain. The analyses and opinions are based on the author’s experience in the industry, and do not reflect the opinions of any institution.)
NMSJ Proposals for New Constitution – Part II
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Sohan Weerasinghe (Entertainer/Singer – Sri Lanka)
Before the pandemic, Christmas was a time I splurged a lot of money on friends, on parties, expensive gifts, etc., and never worried about from where the money came.
Now the scenario is totally different.
The accent is on helping the poor, and the needy, and making sure they have, at least, the bare necessities.
I’m also playing a prominent part in an organisation that is dedicated in looking after the less fortunate people in Sri Lanka.
So, I’m involved in raising funds for them and making sure that they, too, enjoy a little bit of fun and enjoyment.
While doing all these, I also make it a point to observe all safety protocols and not allowing the spread of the virus.
At the Christmas party, we hope to have, even Santa has to show that he got both vaccinations, before entering the hall!
Wish all my friends a Merry Christmas, and please give till it hurts!
Christmas was always about elaborate family lunches, and fancy dinner parties, but this year it’s gonna be a little different….I’m gonna be spending Christmas Eve performing for a show in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Christmas lunch will be 33,000 feet high up in the sky, while I’m on my way back home.
And, Christmas dinner will be a relaxing one, with my family.
Avoiding stress, this Christmas, for sure. Generally, we travel somewhere for the Christmas holidays, but this year my son, Kobe, is coming home for the holidays – university vacation. So, I’m surely having a ‘new normal’ Christmas party, at home, with my immediate family and friends. I’m also planning to cook some of my son’s favourite dishes.
My world always ran at a pace where I never learnt to sit and enjoy the blessings that came my way, but this Christmas, in the ‘new normal,’ has changed that for me .
Christmas, before the pandemic, was all about buying new stuff, writing a list too big for Santa, ballroom dances, plum cake and wine, putting up the decorations, etc. I remember being so busy trying to celebrate Christmas that I forgot why I was celebrating it in the first place – the birth of our saviour, Jesus Christ. Not being able to go out much, due to the pandemic, has showed me that I was missing out on the biggest of blessings God has sent my way – FAMILY. This Christmas I’m going to celebrate the love of God as I count my blessings and cherish the moments I’m given with the ones I love most.
Merlina Fernando (Singer – Sri Lanka)
Yes, we are ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in the ‘new normal.’
We’re almost two years into living with the pandemic, and it looks like this norm is here to stay for a few more years,
Christmas is a season of goodwill, sometimes it can be a tough time for many people, because of the current situation.
I personally like to help, and make someone happy, the way I can.I celebrate Christmas only with my family. It has always been like that.
Research shows that acts of kindness can have a huge benefit to your own happiness, too.
As a musician, I usually don’t get to stay home much, especially during the season,
This year, I will be performing in the Maldives for Christmas, and the New Year.
So, I will have to connect through video calls…or, maybe, throw a virtual karaoke party,
Wishing you all, a safe Christmas.
Before Covid hit, Christmas (my favourite time of the year) meant travelling to India to spend time with family, shopping, lavish Christmas dinners, carolling, late night goodie making, midnight mass and exchanging gifts.
Covid changed it all. Though I’m thankful to my family and the exclusive time we get to spend together, it’s just not the same…singing carols at home, all day, or shopping online, or virtual Christmas parties, for that matter.
I do enjoy making goodies with mum, dad, and my little sis Bianca, as well as our late night movie marathons. While I would have loved more than the four of us to play secret Santa, doing FB live carolling sessions is pretty awesome, with some of my fave Christmas songs, like ‘Christmas Day’ – Jimin and Jungkook (BTS), ‘Santa Baby’ – Ariana Grande, ‘Mistletoe’ – Justin Bieber, and many more that really set the Christmas mood.
I never take gigs on Christmas day, so I usually have a big party, every year, at home, with family and friends.
This year, however, I thought of going on a trip. Along with some friends, we have booked a beach house, as we were stuck at home, for so long, due to the lockdown.
In the aftermath of the 1857 Indian Mutiny, when over50 percent of the 130,000 Indian Sepoys joined the uprising against the British East India Company, the theory of ‘martial races’ was developed by Lord Roberts of Kandahar, Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army 1885-1893. Thereafter it was believed that the best recruits would be drawn from British India’s north-west. “The Punjabi Muslims headed the list, followed by the Sikhs, the Gurkhas, the Rajputs and others claiming Kshatriya ancestry,” claims G.S. Bhargava in ‘Their Finest Hour’, a record of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War. “Brahmins and Bengalis, including Muslims were out. In the south, while Tamils were tolerated, the Telugus, the Coogis and the Moplahs were not encouraged to join the army.”
This history is important, not only to understand the composition of the Indian and Pakistani armed forces, after 1947, but to comprehend the racialised prism through which military recruitment was perused as well as the caste-based preconceptions through which military capability was understood. Therefore the Pakistani armed forces, staffed mainly by Punjabi Muslims, was seen as inherently superior, compared to the Bengali Mukthi Bahini.
When Bangladesh seceded, only a single division of the Pakistan Army was stationed in East Bengal, but by year end there were three. The Army’s attempts to quell the independence struggle in the east ultimately led to 10 million Bengalis fleeing to India. Both in rural Bangladesh and in their refugee camps across the Indian border, the Mukti Bahini liberation force took shape. It was trained, armed and supported by India. By the time the Indian Army entered Bangladesh on December 4, the Mukhti Bahini were already 50,000 strong.
The Pakistan Army was mainly made up of recruits from West Pakistan because of a mindset going back to British colonial times which held that the “Bengalis…had not been considered one of the ‘martial races,’” as explained by Peter Tsouras in ‘Changing Orders: The Evolution of the World’s Armies, 1945 to the Present’.
Despite the intensity of the civil war in Bangladesh and the impossible burden of 10 million refugees, New Delhi bided its time, waiting for the onset of winter. Then they could transfer four out of the 10 Mountain Divisions from the Himalayas to the Bangladesh front, confident that its snowbound passes would preclude any Chinese intervention across the Himalayas. These redeployed units took their positions alongside four fresh Indian Divisions, and together they confronted four Pakistani Divisions. The Pakistanis, moreover, were already tied down in a debilitating guerrilla war at the hands of the Mukthi Bahini while simultaneously attempting to defend the long East Pakistan border which was totally surrounded by Indian territory.
In April 1971 when the Indian Cabinet had discussed the prospect of war over the instability in East Bengal, Chief of Army Staff General Sam Manekshaw reported that the Army was not ready and needed time to ensure victory in a conflict with Pakistan. “In December 1971 (when)… India’s Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, asked her Army Chief, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, if he was ready for the fight. He replied with the gallantry, flirtatiousness and sheer cheek for which he was famous: ‘I am always ready, sweetie.’ (He said he could not bring himself to call Mrs Gandhi “Madame”, because it reminded him of a bawdy-house.)” (The Economist, July 5, 2008)
Gen Manekshaw’s strategy was to have II Corp under Lt. Gen. T.N. Raina attack Bangladesh from the west while Lt. Gen. Sagat Singh’s IV Corp would invade from the east and Lt. Gen. Mohan Thapan XXXIII Corp was to enter from the north. Each Indian Army Corp contained three to four divisions. The Eastern Command was in the hands of Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora and his Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Jack Farj Rafael Jacob. The Indian Army was supported by three brigades of regular Mukti Bahini.
An interesting footnote to the British Army’s theory of Indian martial races and an example of the secular pluralism of India is the fact that Manekshaw was a Parsi and Jacob a Baghdadi Jew.
The 1971 Indo-Pakistan War began on December 3, when the Pakistan Air Force, operating from West Pakistan, in a pre-emptive strike, attacked Indian airfields in its north-west, adjacent to Bangladesh. But these attacks were ineffective and within a matter of hours the Indian Air Force (IAF) was able to establish air superiority over Bangladesh which would become the main theatre of conflict in the coming fortnight.
The strategy of the Pakistan Army (PA) was to hold a set of key choke points like river crossings but being too thinly spread, they were repeatedly outflanked by the advancing Indian Army and Mukthi Bahini which bypassed them and secured the Pakistani’s defensive points before they could fall back to them. The Indians used heliborne troops and paratroopers to leapfrog over Pakistani lines. The IAF’s control of the air denied the retreating PA their avenue of relief and escape. Consequently, Pakistani morale plummeted. Peter Tsouras explains that “greatly out-numbered by the Indians, beset by guerrillas and despised by the civilian population, the Pakistan garrison attempted to defend far too much of the country and was spread too thinly.”
On the West Pakistani-Indian frontier the order of battle was 13 Indian Army Divisions facing 12 Pakistan Army Divisions, giving the illusion of parity. But in fact India had a 3:2 advantage in personnel and a 2:1 superiority in armour capability. There was, however, heavy fighting in the west where initially PA made gains in Punjab and Kashmir. While the Indians were able to limit and contain the Pakistani advance they also attacked further south in the Sind capturing 3,000 square miles of Pakistani territory.
During British times, it was believed that South Asian troops were incapable of employing armour effectively. During World War II this led then Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery, commanding the British Eighth Army battling Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel, to relegate the 1st Indian Armoured Division to Palestine, since he was reluctant to commit them on the battlefields of North Africa.
A week into the war, though holding a heavy concentration of troops along the southern border of Jammu and Kashmir, the Pakistanis were quiet on that front. So, in an effort to draw them out and engage them, on December 15, the 47th Indian Infantry Brigade launched an offensive across the Basantar River which divided the two countries. This was in order to establish bridgeheads at Jarpal and also at Ghazipur which was sheltered by a forest; all this with the objective of launching an assault on Zafarwal.
An Indian armoured unit of the 17th Horse with its British Centurion Tanks had to break the resistance at Ghazipur and overnight, crossed a broad defensive minefield. At daybreak the Pakistani defenders laid a thick smokescreen under cover of which they positioned two squadrons of 31 Cavalry’s M48 Patton tanks and the 13 Lancers Armoured Regiment. The result was the biggest tank battle in the history of the Indo-Pakistan Wars which left 48 Pattons destroyed. Montgomery’s presumption had been disproved!
As the Pakistan Army rolled back, in a desperate reaction, US President Richard Nixon, on the advice of Henry Kissinger, his National Security Advisor ordered the US Seventh Fleet’s Task Force 74 in the Pacific, led by the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, to enter the Bay of Bengal.
On December 16, Dacca was captured and the 93,000 strong Pakistani Army in Bangladesh surrendered, the largest military surrender post-World War II. The following year the Simla Agreement entered into by New Delhi and Islamabad provided for both the return of Pakistani prisoners of war and Islamabad’s recognition of Bangladesh. The US, Pakistan’s key military ally, was one of the last to recognise Bangladesh. While its other ally China vetoed Bangladesh’s admission to the UNO.
‘I have given you independence, now go and preserve it.’
Pakistan could be said to have gone beyond mere damage-control by calling for a collective effort on the part of polities to prevent tragedies of the kind that occurred a few weeks back when a factory manager of Sri Lankan origin, Priyantha Kumara, was done to death in a most barbaric fashion in Sialkot by a demented mob.
Notables in the Pakistani government, such as its Minister of Religious Affairs Dr. Noorul Haq Qadri and its Human Rights Minister Dr. Shireen Mazari, are on record as calling for inter-religious harmony and tolerance and this is the way to go in this hour when religious extremism is taking a heavy toll on intra-state and inter-state harmony in South Asia in particular.
Dr. Qadri was most explicit in his condemnation of the killing. ‘Prophets spread teachings of love and forgiveness. The Sialkot tragedy has to be condemned at all levels. Those who tortured and killed Priyantha Kumara in the name of faith had not done any service but violated the principles of Islam, he said. Dr. Mazari called on the country’s many religions to work together to bring stability and global prestige to Pakistan. She explained that human rights, religious tolerance and brotherhood were values espoused by all religions. Religious tolerance and harmony are imperatives, the minister was quoted saying.
The above sentiments amount to transcending identity politics and extremism which have been continually standing in the way of nation-building almost everywhere in South and Southwest Asia. The ministers have not stopped with the condemnation of the Priyantha Kumara killing but gone very much beyond that and outlined what could be described as essential core values that form the basis for the effective management of the numerous divisive issues that grow out of religion-based identity politics. Since no country in South Asia, for instance, could claim to be above the most destructive forms of identity politics, the Pakistani ministers could be considered as having spoken for the entirety of the region.
One could wholeheartedly agree with the ministers that what is called for in this connection is a collective effort at peacebuilding. Governments are, no doubt, primarily responsible for originating and sustaining a pro-peace culture in a country but they are not the only party to figure in this hallowed exercise. Think tanks, artists and the media, to name just three such quarters, need to shoulder this responsibility of planting and nurturing religious tolerance, peace and brotherhood among peoples and cultures.
Even if one were not thinking seriously about nation-building and its important implications for multi-identity countries and regions, commonsense ought to dissuade those sections that are prone to speak and act on the basis of divisive ideologies to think long and deep on this dangerous proclivity of theirs before actively perpetuating it. For one thing, almost all the countries in Asia are multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual. The presence of groups in a country that one is not happy with, just cannot be wished away or eliminated. They have to be lived with and cordially related to, since genocide will never be tolerated by the international community.
Besides, any harmful actions directed at such groups could eventually lead to equally hostile actions directed at oneself by such victims. Thus, the way will be paved for intra-state friction and disharmony from which no one would gain. This lesson ought to have been learnt from the time many of our countries in South Asia gained ‘independence’. Therefore, as a matter of principle or on account of pragmatic considerations inter-group harmony needs to be consistently cultivated by governments and other responsible sections that have democratic development as one of their aims.
Even if a state is theocratic in orientation, if governments in such dispensations aim seriously at realizing religious harmony as a matter of policy, antagonisms among religious groups could be managed to a degree. The challenge before governments in South Asia, for example, is to foster inter-religious harmony as a matter of firm policy and not to cave in, with an eye on short term political gain, to those groups that champion religious chauvinism and extremism. This is particularly applicable to the pressures on governments emanating from extremist outfits claiming to represent the interest of religious majorities.
Unfortunately, thus far, governments in our part of the world have, more often than not, pandered to these destructive forces. Needless to say, in the case of those states that claim to be democratic, such faint-hearted accommodation of extremists claiming to champion the interests of religious majorities, has led to the undermining of democratic institutions and values.
Ideally, states claiming to be democratic need to be securely anchored in the principle of secularism. That is, in their Constitutions, there need to be enshrined unambiguous principles separating religion from politics. However, the majority of states in South Asia are not secular in the true sense of the term. To the extent to which a state does not adhere to secularism, while claiming to be democratic, to the same degree will it prove a failed democratic state.
The Pakistani state, nevertheless, has done well to highlight some core civilizational values that unite the majority of countries and peoples of South Asia. May be, Pakistan could take a lead role in bringing into being a South Asian forum where eminent minds and spirits of the region could meet and discuss ways of uniting the peoples of the region on the basis of these shared values.
It is also of the greatest importance that the Pakistani government has been clear about the fact that Islam does not preach and practise religious hatred and bigotry. Every significant section claiming adherence to Islam needs to do likewise and disassociate itself from such hatreds and animosities. This will go a long way in getting ‘Islamic terror’ out of the vocabulary of many English speakers. The unfortunate inability to do so thus far has done Islam considerable harm. The fact that Islam does not endorse inter-religious hatred needs to be enshrined in minds as a cardinal truth about this revered faith.
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