At a time when we are constantly affected by developments in the world — we are over the moon sometimes and crying out aloud at other times — things get serious when facts are messed up and concepts and terms are misinterpreted.
In the cartoons controversy in France, a newspaper published offensive caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on purpose. This makes us recall the publication of Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie in 1998. This is indeed a new crusade that has nothing to do with freedom of thought or expression.
The stand of the French press on insulting the Prophet won’t be forgotten. They have to offer an apology to Muslims for spreading misinformation and insulting our religious figures. Such actions are not acceptable and they are not related by any means to media freedom.
Most critics, media professionals and religious leaders, including priests in European and American churches, agree that the hostile campaign launched by Charlie Hebdo is not linked to freedom of the press, which the French weekly and other Western newspapers claim to be exercising.
This campaign is aimed only at offending Muslims and defaming their Prophet to reduce the flow of Muslims to the West.
Recently, Muslim scholars spoke of the need to issue an international law prohibiting intentional denigration of religions and religious figures.
There are some questions raised by people from both sides of this debate and we need to find answers to them.
Does it serve peace and understanding among people if media outlets in the West insult the sacred figures of more than a billion Muslims?
Why is hurting Muslims’ religious sentiments defended in the name of freedom of expression when many laws criminalise any criticism of Jews, labelling whoever dares to do so anti-Semitic?
No Western researcher can question the Holocaust. Ironically, while insults directed at Muslims are a religious issue, those forbidden from criticising Jews are said to be dealing with their history, not religion. Jewish history is apparently more sacred than Muslims’ beliefs.
Does publication of the offensive cartoons, not only in France but in many other countries as well, show common sense and respect for others? Isn’t the insistence on such actions a provocation to Muslims?
The hostile propaganda that has swept most of the West also raises questions. Does this propaganda help the European countries, where more than 20 million Muslims live as citizens? Does this propaganda prevent Muslims from fully integrating into their local communities — something these countries always insist Muslims should do?
Pope Francis said that freedom of expression is a basic right but it does not mean insulting others’ beliefs. “Killing in the name of God is an abhorrent action. It is not accepted under any condition to provoke or insult others’ beliefs. Everybody has not only freedom and right but also a duty to express his thoughts for the benefit of the public interest. Using this freedom as a tool is accepted, but with no gesture of insult,” he said. The Pope also affirmed that freedom of religion and expression were two basic human rights.
Finally, the Indian leader, M K Gandhi, said: “Victory resulting from violence is equal to defeat, as it rapidly fades away.”
