On 7 January, the so-called terrorists in France killed 12 employees of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine, apparently for depicting the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); and soon after recovering the attack, the magazine again caricatured the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on its front cover. The Muslim leaders from all over the world condemned the attack but also suggested that freedom of speech and expression should be exercised within admissible limits without wounding the sentiments of any community, particularly its religious beliefs.
There is nowhere in the world where you can flagrantly say and blatantly express whatever you like; there are certain limits that you are supposed to be within. You ought to take into account that what you are going to say or express doesn’t offend people and provoke violence and hatred. Many European countries including France have stringent laws against Holocaust denial because it is assumed that it can inspire violence against Jews. However, the Islamic Hijab is banned in public schools in France but Nuns are allowed to cover themselves with their traditional tunics.
The magazine, which is fallaciously celebrating freedom of expression, sacked its former cartoonist for drawing an anti-Semitic cartoon and one of its journalist (Sine in 2009) was booted out for mocking Sarkozy’s son (former French President) for converting to Judaism for money. Recently, French authorities arrested at least 54 people for defending terrorism, also removing their posts from social media.
Ironically, Cameron, British PM, is also backing the free speech yet he had a person jailed for shouting at him. Also this week, Israel forced the ‘Times of Sunday’ to remove a satirical cartoon because it had portrayed Netanyahu, Israeli PM, building the Gaza Wall using the body parts and blood of the dead Palestinians. Tim Willcox, a BBC reporter, faced calls to resign for covering Israeli attack and seeking the views of the Holocaust survivors.
Briefly, almost every country periodically, if not regularly, censors the news and other relevant information vital to the state removing the critically sensitive content.
Uniquely, absolute freedom of press only applies to the Muslims. The Western presstitute media, with support from the Zionist powers, arrogantly likes to depict and deliberately caricatures those things that are the most revered and sacred to the Muslims. They (media) willfully attempt such provocative acts to provoke the Muslims and to create chaos in Muslim countries. No Muslim in the history of the world has ever committed blasphemy.
Why the western press venture such heinous moves? The answer is plainly simple: it greatly hurts the Muslims as the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the dearest to all the Muslims and the people regardless of their sect equally adore the Prophet. Secondly, they don’t expect, and are not afraid of, any backlash: as most of the Muslim leaders are their puppets and henchmen and Ummah is divided at several fronts.
Such acts of blasphemy that are intentionally perpetrated to spark off disruption among the people of a particular community deserve more than an assault. However, we must be skeptical of this western gambit. Al-Qaida Yemen that is supposed to be a US proxy just like Taliban claimed the attack. Interestingly, the identity of the attackers was allegedly established by the assertion that they had left their ID in the gateway car. Surprisingly, a high-ranking official who was investigating CH case allegedly committed suicide for unknown reasons. The video of the Ahmed Merhabet, who was bullet fired from point –blank range doesn’t fit to a rational mind. Coulibaly, who was depicted as a Muslim fanatic, was shot dead at the kosher grocery store on January 9, had been invited in 2009 to a meeting at the Elysée Palace with former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Coulibaly had a criminal record and had been on the radar of French police and intelligence. What was the relationship of this alleged terrorist to a former head of State?
The most important thing to note is that recently France had voted in the UN with Palestine against the US-Israeli position and Israel warned it to face the consequences. Therefore, this could cease the French and European sympathy for the Muslims in general and the Palestinians in particular and would trigger France to support the US more robustly. Using the attack as a pretext, France has sent its aircraft carrier to join US military in the Persian Gulf.
The Muslim leaders, particularly Arab leaders, attended the solidarity march called in the wake of Paris attacks. Where were these flunkeys when US attacked Afghanistan based on fabrication? Where was Mahmood Abbas, Palestinian PM, when Israel brutally martyred hundreds of innocent children? Moreover, where were these kingpins when Israel viciously martyred 15 journalists and media workers during operation “Protective Edge”? In addition, why these puppets dare not dissent and march when almost on everyday many civilians, including innocent children, embrace death in Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq and Syria due to US-led NATO airstrikes?
The overall response form the so-called Muslim world is bloody disappointing. Although, the Muslim leaders condemned the blasphemous act of CH as ‘inflammatory and disrespectful’ but they failed to offer any potent deterrence. The hypocritical and cowardice behaviour of the Muslim leaders have given CH strength to show its ugliness again. Pakistan relied on passing a resolution in the NA and PM office uttered that the international community should discourage such provocative publications. To some extent, Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan, audaciously stated: “West is behind CH false flag attacks and the magazine is inciting hatred and racism. It was the only valiant statement from the Muslim world. Nevertheless, we are in dire need of an effective counter-strategy, no mere rhetoric.
The CH’s act is a state-sponsored provocation. Actually, the attack is another false flag attempt engineered by the west to garner world sympathy and justify the so-called war against terrorism in order to persecute the Muslims by presenting them as ‘extremists’ and reinforcing the Islam as a ‘violent ideology’. It is high time that Muslim leaders must unite and should employ their political clout at utmost to put an end to such wicked acts. They should urge the UN and other international forums to regulate free speech so that freedom of speech and expression ought not be used to mock the religion of the people and foster racism. The media, I mean Muslim press, should also play an active role in exposing the sheer hypocrisy of the western press in the name of freedom of the press and must expose the so-called militant outfits like Taliban and ISIS that the western press is effectively using to defame Islam. Nicholas Kristof, a columnist of NYT, has very aptly said: “Terror incidents lead many Westerners to perceive Islam as inherently extremist, but I think that is too glib and simple-minded. Small numbers of terrorists make headlines, but they aren’t representative of a complex and diverse religion of 1.6 billion adherents”.
Unluckily, if we failed to avert such episodes, they are likely to repeat their arrogance and ignorance; and consequently, the Muslims across the globe will have to bear the brunt.
