Disturbing circumcision

In the article Circumcision ritual honors children which appeared last Sunday in this newspaper, it says that "girls' circumcision would be a grisly and shocking sight for foreigners" and that "it is one of the most important rites of passage in Indonesian Muslim communities, and a time for great celebration".

I find this contradiction deeply disturbing, almost as disturbing as the incomprehensible notion that this ritual honors children.

MARSHALL LESESNE

Jakarta