It's so rare that I hear/ read stories of compassion and forgiveness in the news (even in the so called progressive news). So I thought I'd take a minute to help get the word out about this a young man, Rais Bhuiyan, who acting from of place of true compassion and forgiveness to try to save the life of his assailant, Mark Stroman, who attempted to kill him. Bhuiyan has founded a website, A World Without Hate, to raise awareness about hate crimes and to advocate that Stroman’s death penalty be commuted to life in prison without parole.
Here are a few places to get more info on the story:
Democracy Now reports: In Texas, a man is attempting to save the life of a convicted murderer who tried to kill him. Rais Bhuiyan is suing Gov. Rick Perry in order to stop the execution of death row prisoner Mark Stroman, scheduled for Wednesday. Stroman shot Bhuiyan in 2001, partially blinding him in the wake of September 11. Stroman, an Aryan Brotherhood member, also killed two men at the time, including a Muslim man. All of his victims were from India or Pakistan. Stroman’s half-sister was killed in the attack on the twin towers and claimed her death fueled his rampage. Bhuiyan is now calling on Perry to heed his demand for mercy and lower Stroman’s punishment to life in prison, arguing the attack was rooted in ignorance.
Rais Bhuiyan: "September 11 did a horrible thing not only to U.S., to all over the world. This is a time we should take a new narrative. We should take a new narrative of passion, forgiveness, tolerance and healing.”
Rais Bhuiyan gives his
personal account of the incident in the Execution Chronicles.
Tanya Greene, a blogger for the ACLU, posted about this story with a link to "Contact Texas Gov. Rick Perry and urge him to honor Bhuiyan's request to grant clemency to Stroman to live out the rest of his life in prison, and to allow for continued victim-offender understanding and healing."
You can also read or listen to coverage by NPR at this link.
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