Je Suis Charlie - Charlie Hebdo attack

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 7^th 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 11^th 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 7^th 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.