Picture this.
You are a second or third generation Muslim immigrant born and brought up in a
country where freedom of expression has no boundaries. Being insensitive to
your religion or its religious figures through media mean an insult to your belief which you will
not tolerate. What do you do? How far would you go to fight against blasphemy
similar to this? Would you vandalize the office of those media publications? Gun down the
people behind the publication? Well it all depends on what moral values you
hold and how far your religious faith takes you to.
What happened
in Paris on 7th January 2015 was tragic. Two Islamist gun men opened
fire in the head office of Charlie Hebdo
(a French magazine known for its biting humor) killing twelve people for
publishing a string of satirical cartoons about Islam and the Prophet Muhammed.
The events following that incident of hostage taking and subsequent killing of
the gun men made headlines across the world.
The cartoons mocking
religion published in Charlie Hebdo maybe
considered nothing out of the ordinary in a country where freedom of expression far outweighs hurting
religious sentiments. While moderates take it as a joke and move on, the
extremists do not hold the same view. They take it far more seriously and the
consequences can be fatal.
On 11th
January 2015 millions including world leaders from several countries gathered
in Paris expressing solidarity towards the French people condemning the
terrible killings. The crowd included Muslims and Jews among others. It is
reassuring to hear from many of the French Muslims gathered in the rally that
they do not support terrorism and that Islam is a religion of peace.
The muslims rallied
condemning the attack reassures that extremist minorities do not represent the
vast majority of peace loving Muslims. While it is difficult to understand why
certain individuals choose violent methods to protest, the question is, has
Charlie Hebdo magazine gone too far with their freedom of expression in the
form of cartoons making fun of Islam and similarly mocking other religion? French foreign minister Laurent Fabier once
asked of its cartoons, “Is it really sensible and intelligent to pour oil on
the fire”. Granted, no amount of blasphemy
justifies taking someone’s life.
The question
is who really is responsible or who is the mastermind behind the vicious attack at
Charlie Hebdo? Were the two gun men who was involved in the attack merely pawns
of a larger conspiracy? By and large that is most likely the case.
While we wait
for the larger picture behind the attack to emerge, it is heartening to know that Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has come
forward with an ambitious call for reform in Islam. Al-Sisi’s professed goal is to purge religion
of extremist ideas of intolerance and violence that fuel several terrorist
groups.
Some view the
problem with Islam is that it has remained stuck in a time warp. Islam has
remained a 7th century faith. As one columnist puts it, all
religious texts are as good or as bad as their interpretations and
unfortunately it’s the most violent and abusive followers who are heard the
most.
The millions
who lined up in Paris with the message “Je Suis Charlie (I am Charlie)” supporting
the freedom of expression by the Charlie Hebdo magazine may have made very
little impact on the terrorists who are out there plotting the next
vicious attack. A much more deeper analysis of the terrorist outfits, tracking and hunting down the masterminds behind the attack, and cutting down their arm supply chain are
some of the actions required by the authorities with the support of all countries. That
is the need of the hour.
