I will always remember with fondness how Martin Luther King called for the American black's militancy to be tempered with dignity and discipline.
He said in a famous speech, everybody knows, "In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."
"We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."
I shake my hend in disgust at how low the call for justice against the offensive cartoons has taken.
Archibald Macleish also once rhetorically asked, "How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always, and in the final act, by determination and faith."
Now, we are witnessing a surge in bigotry. I empathize with my Muslim brothers who were grossly offended by the Danish caricatures but I am equally antagonize by the violent reaction by some people. What is happening in Pakistan is terrible. Lahore may not be burning but the part that has had nothing to do with the reason for the upheaval. What was burned? Buses owned by a Korean company?! A shop of Norweigian mobile phones?! A KFC branch?! What else? What's next?
I cry with Martin Luther King as I witness all these misplaced violence. I raise my voice in the same question as Archibald Macleish. And I now wonder how much South Korean, Norway and other countries have given Pakistan in aid to rebuild its earthquake-hit region.
posted by Meandering Shawarma @ 3:02 PM
3 Comments:
Cartoon row bounty nothing short of barbaric
By LES HORTON
I wonder what the reaction would be were Denmark to seek an apology from India for the behaviour of one of its ministers in inciting the murder of those behind the insulting cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed.
Uttar Pradesh Minister Yaqoob Qureshi's pledge of $11.5m (BD4.5m), plus his weight in gold, to "the avenger" who beheads any of the cartoonists responsible, is nothing short of barbaric.
There are many in the non-Islamic world trying to understand the global outrage over these cartoons and who have put out their hands in solidarity and friendship by condemning such an insult as unacceptable.
But they will draw those hands back in horror at the belief by some that an insult, however offensive, can ever justify murder.
That a government representative should effectively put a bounty on the head of a citizen of another country must be against all international law and I find it hard to believe that a contract to kill is in keeping with any religious tenet.
My own emotions have been on a rollercoaster ride during this escalating controversy.
At first, I saw the Muslim stance as a threat to free speech, an imposition by one way of life on another.
But then I listened and began to understand just how genuinely offended Muslim people are, how much Prophet Mohammed and their faith mean to them.
I even found myself wondering whether my own Western society had lost its way in paying so little heed to religious beliefs and sentiment and that perhaps we were mistaking indifference for freedom.
Then the violence began and my feelings were torn again, unable to understand how anyone could justify the rioting and the subsequent loss of life, or the attacks on foreign embassies.
Now we see a government official wilfully inciting murder and my understanding is tested to the extreme, for I cannot equate this with the warmth of the many Muslim people I know and deal with every day.
If any good could have come from all of this, it could have been a new understanding in people sometimes insensitive to the beliefs of others. But such understanding can only come through explanation or persuasion - not through threat or fear.
Violence would only reinforce what the cartoonist thinks
Even if I am not a Muslim, I understand why Muslims are upset with the cartoons that depicted Prophet Mohammad as a terrorist. I feel the same way when people make fun of Jesus and the Christian faith. I agree with them that freedom of the press is not an excuse to malign religion.
However, I join the call for sobriety among our Muslim friends. One of the pictures of a recent protest rally in Makati City showed a placard that said, “Behead those who insult Islam.” I found it disturbing. I think that would only reinforce what those people behind the cartoons think of Muslims.
To their credit, Filipino Muslims protested peacefully, unlike their brothers in other countries whose rallies became violent.
If Muslims claim that they are people of peace, then they should please refrain from such acts or pronouncements.
Prophet cartoons published in New Zealand
Sydney
February 4, 2006 - 9:29AM
A New Zealand newspaper has published controversial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed.
The Dominion Post, a Fairfax-owned Wellington newspaper, published the cartoons today, saying its decision was in the interests of press freedom.
"It's important for our readers to see what the fuss is about and to make up their own minds. Ours is a secular society based on western ideals of tolerance and open debate, even if that may occasionally offend," said Tim Pankhurst, Dominion Post editor and Commonwealth Press Union chairman.
"We do not wish to be deliberately provocative but neither should we allow ourselves to be intimidated. If we allow Christianity and more particularly the Catholic Church and the Pope to be satirised, and we do, should Islam be treated differently?" he asked.
The cartoons depict Mohammed in various poses, including one in which he is wearing a bomb in his turban.
New Zealand Federation of Islamic Associations president Javed Khan said the decision by The Dominion Post to publish the cartoons could have "serious repercussions" for New Zealand's economy.
The federation holds the national contract to certify meat slaughtered to traditional Islamic requirements.
"We won't call for a boycott, and we don't want to see one, but news gets around the world pretty quickly. Muslims will make their own decisions and as you know, they've taken drastic action against Denmark," he told the Dominion Post.
What has been widely described as a new battle in the continuing culture wars between Islam and the secular west began in September when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten commissioned cartoons of Mohammed in a deliberate affirmation of its right to free expression.
The row smouldered for several months before being reignited by re-publication of the drawings in Norway and France, prompting outrage among Muslim faithful, a campaign of consumer boycotts and death threats from militants against nationals of the three countries.
Violence is widely feared in parts of Europe and the Middle East after Muslims around the world expressed fury at the 12 drawings and some religious leaders called for a day of protests against the countries in which they appeared.
Post a Comment
<< Home