Defiance is the buzzword Three million copies of Charlie Ebdo are out today in 14 languages with the cartoon on the front page. The previous quantity of the printed magazine was mere 60000. Outside France, the Washington Post, Germanys Frankfurter Allgemeine, Corriere della Sera in Italy and the UKs Guardian are among publications to show the cartoon. The cartoon can also be seen on the net through any search engine. Prior to Jan 7,2015 very few people knew about this magazine outside France in general and the world of Islam in particular. Today, the entire world knows about it and also the cartoon which led to the massacre of seventeen individuals. So who are blasphemers of a higher order? The cartoonists or the killers and their supporters whose action caused the insult and derision across the globe. Not the common man in the West in general and the Islamic world in particular knew about Salman Rushdi and his book The satanic verses published in September 1988 until Allama Khomeni pronounced death sentence on February 14, 1989 for the author. Later, several fatwas were also issued by Mullas calling for death to Salman Rushdi. People came on the streets in Pakistan and the novel was banned in 12 countries with large Muslim communities. Soon Salman Rushdis Satanic verses, was an instant international bestseller. So who is blasphemer of a higher order? Salman Rushdi or the Mullahs whose action led to a wide popularity and circulation of the book all over the world? The cartoons or any such material could have been conveniently ignored in view of the sensibilities of the Western culture. Perhaps the West still does not understand what is meant by blasphemy as we understand it. On the other hand societies like ours where every aspect of life is associated with the divine order i.e. dos and donts, halal- haram and conditioning of irrational emotional reactions, we cause greater damage to the cause we tend to fight for! By the way freedom of expression is a concept invented and practiced in the West. Who are Muslims to redefine it for the West when even holding a belief carries death sentence in several Muslim countries. Second, if you are a citizen of a western democracy and you have reservations about certain rights or practices, there are civilized ways and means to achieve a particular objective . Go to a court of law or lobby to change the definition of freedom of expression in the constitution. Taking up arms and killing people because they do not follow what you want is simply barbaric. Third, if at all the Westerners redefine the concept of freedom of expression as the Muslims want, will the buck stop there. Not at all! They will then demand for the expansion of the definition to include other areas. Imagine, in our own country even calling someone a mohajir in a negative context has been taken as blasphemy and even listening to a particular Qawwali has been rendered blasphemous! So it is high time for the Muslim world to understand that not everybody follows submission ..........defiance is the buzzword! Waseem Altaf
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 15:23:21 +0000
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