02-06-2006, 11:29 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Abuse, not freedom
The Pioneer Edit Desk
The raging protest by Muslims against the publication of cartoons lampooning Prophet Mohammed in some European newspapers underscores the danger of being insensitive towards religious faith and belief. A Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, invited cartoonists to render their perception of Mohammed and Islam; 12 such renditions were later published by the daily, igniting the slow fuse of fury and retribution.
As Muslim protest gathered force, a French tabloid, France Soir, republished the cartoons and leading European dailies as well as television news channels gave them wide publicity, claiming that freedom of the Press must be accorded precedence over religious sensitivity. This only served the purpose of heightening Muslim anger and subsequently Jyllands-Posten offered an apology while the editor of France Soir was sacked. But by then the damage had been done: Across the world, Muslims in Islamic countries are burning the Norwegian flag, attacking Norwegian missions and boycotting Norwegian products.
Saudi Arabia, Syria and Libya have recalled their Ambassadors and the Danish Government is now engaged in trying to douse a fire that could lead to an undesirable conflagration. Hopefully, the protests will not spread any further and the damage will be contained. The pro-active role of the Danish Prime Minister in distancing his Government from the scandalous misuse of press freedom should convince community leaders to rein in Islamists who have seized upon this act of callous indiscretion by some newspapers to push their own agenda.
Having said that, it merits reiteration that much of the outpouring of anger and disquiet is entirely justified. The West must acknowledge and accept that neither the freedom of the Press nor the right to offend provides for disregarding religious sensitivities. This is not the first time that non-Christians have been subjected to Western indifference and, what some would describe as, intentional ridicule. In the past, Hindu gods and goddesses have been used as decorative motifs on footwear and under garments. Anti-Semitism has manifested itself in various forms across Europe and America, violating all notions of human dignity.
To brush aside protests against such gratuitous offence, as has been done by Western newspapers in their editorial pages in recent days, as the inability of immigrants to assimilate their host country's cultural ethos or accept the limitless freedom afforded by democracies, is to trivialise the larger issues of tolerance and restraint. Those who have published the repugnant cartoons have demonstrated that for all its talk of democracy and freedom, the West is yet to assimilate tolerance and restraint in its cultural ethos.
That's a pity. As the latest instance of the West seeking to impose its version of that which is permissible shows, abuse of freedom can have consequences whose tremors could be felt beyond the boundaries of Europe and the US. Those Muslims who have refused to be swayed by the rhetoric and violence of Islamists are being increasingly forced to take a position which will strengthen the very forces that are inimical to freedom, democracy and plurality.
This is not a clash of cultures that we are witnessing, but a shameful attempt to foist cultural hegemony by the West. This is not about the indisputable need for immigrants, in this particular instance Muslims, to follow the law of their host countries, but an abominable demand that they must disown and disparage all that which they hold sacred in order to be accepted. The stinging rebuke, therefore, is well-deserved.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
The raging protest by Muslims against the publication of cartoons lampooning Prophet Mohammed in some European newspapers underscores the danger of being insensitive towards religious faith and belief. A Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, invited cartoonists to render their perception of Mohammed and Islam; 12 such renditions were later published by the daily, igniting the slow fuse of fury and retribution.
As Muslim protest gathered force, a French tabloid, France Soir, republished the cartoons and leading European dailies as well as television news channels gave them wide publicity, claiming that freedom of the Press must be accorded precedence over religious sensitivity. This only served the purpose of heightening Muslim anger and subsequently Jyllands-Posten offered an apology while the editor of France Soir was sacked. But by then the damage had been done: Across the world, Muslims in Islamic countries are burning the Norwegian flag, attacking Norwegian missions and boycotting Norwegian products.
Saudi Arabia, Syria and Libya have recalled their Ambassadors and the Danish Government is now engaged in trying to douse a fire that could lead to an undesirable conflagration. Hopefully, the protests will not spread any further and the damage will be contained. The pro-active role of the Danish Prime Minister in distancing his Government from the scandalous misuse of press freedom should convince community leaders to rein in Islamists who have seized upon this act of callous indiscretion by some newspapers to push their own agenda.
Having said that, it merits reiteration that much of the outpouring of anger and disquiet is entirely justified. The West must acknowledge and accept that neither the freedom of the Press nor the right to offend provides for disregarding religious sensitivities. This is not the first time that non-Christians have been subjected to Western indifference and, what some would describe as, intentional ridicule. In the past, Hindu gods and goddesses have been used as decorative motifs on footwear and under garments. Anti-Semitism has manifested itself in various forms across Europe and America, violating all notions of human dignity.
To brush aside protests against such gratuitous offence, as has been done by Western newspapers in their editorial pages in recent days, as the inability of immigrants to assimilate their host country's cultural ethos or accept the limitless freedom afforded by democracies, is to trivialise the larger issues of tolerance and restraint. Those who have published the repugnant cartoons have demonstrated that for all its talk of democracy and freedom, the West is yet to assimilate tolerance and restraint in its cultural ethos.
That's a pity. As the latest instance of the West seeking to impose its version of that which is permissible shows, abuse of freedom can have consequences whose tremors could be felt beyond the boundaries of Europe and the US. Those Muslims who have refused to be swayed by the rhetoric and violence of Islamists are being increasingly forced to take a position which will strengthen the very forces that are inimical to freedom, democracy and plurality.
This is not a clash of cultures that we are witnessing, but a shameful attempt to foist cultural hegemony by the West. This is not about the indisputable need for immigrants, in this particular instance Muslims, to follow the law of their host countries, but an abominable demand that they must disown and disparage all that which they hold sacred in order to be accepted. The stinging rebuke, therefore, is well-deserved.
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