The Double Standards of ‘Freedom of Speech’
on July 11, 2011
Theme: culture : Freedom : hypocrisy : Kurt Westergaard : religionAnanth Venkatesh
[Previously written by the author: Hindus in the Netherlands, The Failure of Islam in Multicultural Europe]
I have to declare that Europe, especially after overseas decolonization, has been a society very ready to discuss the ills that plague modern Christianity. Certain facets of Christian history and the invidious Christian role in European imperialism abroad have been denounced firmly and, at times, with certain ruthlessness. Therefore, Wilders has the right to decry the bellicosity that exists in certain clauses of the Islamic holy book. He is well within the rights and liberties that the Dutch constitution provides him. He hasn’t surpassed any boundary set by the Dutch law.
Robustness, dispassionateness, comprehensiveness, deepness and candidness have characterized socio-political debates in the Dutch society in the last 25 years. Religion, even Christianity, hasn’t been permitted to subdue the Dutch intellect and reasoning. Therefore, it is inevitable that Islam in the Netherlands and some of its degenerations will also be scrutinized profoundly by the Dutch intelligentsia. If any Muslim is dissatisfied with the depiction of Islam in a cartoon, article, TV show, etc. he can approach the Dutch courts for resolving his grievances.
Belligerent infringement of the Dutch law was done in 2004 when a Muslim Dutchman of Moroccan bloodline, Mohammed Bouyeri, killed Theo van Gogh, a notorious but impactful Dutch media personality. Theo, along with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the female Somali writer, made a divisive short film, ‘Submission’, which conversed about the subdual of women in certain Islamic societies.
Consider this; if Indian artist M F Hussein has the right to paint the undressed ‘Bharat Mata’ without respecting the sentiments of innumerable Hindus, then the Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard [seen in photo], has the right to show, via cartoons, that Islamic extremists derive inspiration from a number of aggressive passages in the Islamic holy tome.
Westergaard did this in September 2005. Then, his cartoons depicting the scriptural violence in Islam were published in a prominent Danish broadsheet, Jyllands-Posten. One such famous cartoon was the one, in which the Islamic Prophet was wearing a bomb in his turban. I find nothing wrong in these cartoons. There needs to be an honest debate everywhere on the bigotry and antagonism that have permeated sizable Islamic populations in Europe.
This is despite the European continent providing them with wonderful healthcare, first-rate academic institutions, excellent residences, employment, etc. Praying that Europe undergoes Islamization is a manifestation of the ungratefulness of certain immigrant Muslims in Denmark, France, Britain, Germany, etc. Individual European countries will pursue their national interests in Islamic lands militarily or economically. But that doesn’t offer immigrant Muslims in Europe a license to slay blameless Europeans. Such an attitude, which prevails in certain Muslim quarters in Europe, is a demonstration of outright thanklessness by the radicalized Muslims to the advantages the European life has given them. European democracy is extremely liberal in several ways. The Muslims need to understand that and comply with the European principles such as freedom of speech, expression, free press, etc.
It is only natural that refusal to integrate with the Dutch language and Dutch way of life by certain Muslims will naturally lead to political calls for a ban on Islamic immigration.
Westergaard has had to endure two attempts by Islamists to slay him. Westergaard is not alone among the European political commentators, who have highlighted the dangerous degradation and violent autocracy that have crept into Islamic societies in Europe. Geert Wilders generated and discharged a contentious short film titled ‘Fitna’ in 2008, which speaks about Koranic segments being responsible for the emergence of Islamic terrorism and Mohammedan universalism that have blighted Europe and countries such as India.
‘Fitna’ was again the subject of global media scrutiny and Islamic ire due to its relentless criticism of the hostility and backwardness of Islam that is wholly incompatible with the pluralism and liberty of the 21st century Dutch society.
Again, if the Iranian media can organize a pejorative and depreciatory competition of cartoons about the Holocaust, then European commentators have the right to raise uncomfortable queries about Islam. [Photo Left: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the ‘holocaust’ and calls it a conspiracy.]
Certain segments of the Arabic media regularly write and publish anti-Semitic articles, publish anti Jewish cartoons and legitimize the killings of blameless Jews in Israel and globally. It is not that uncommon to read references in the Muslim media that label non-Muslims as heathenish, as kaffirs, as infidels, as nonbelievers. There is not much condemnation of that in the Islamic world.
Close to none.
[Next: In the final part of the series, Ananth considers the duplicity of ‘freedom of speech’ in India]
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Comments
I wholly agree when the article talks about some Muslims being ungrateful to the high standard of life they have been accorded by the virtue of living in Europe. But the author fails to notice that the mentioned articles, cartoons and short movie rely on bias, manipulation of facts and certain lines from the holy text to malign Islam and Muslims. The motive seems to be to appease the readership which consists of an ill-informed population. With the general wave of Islamophobia sweeping the major part of Europe the creators of these materials seek to gain publicity and make fast cash by telling the people what they wish to hear. The freedom of speech is not the same as the freedom to lie or manipulate.
One might argue for the cause of the freedom to have an opinion. This also falls flat on closer inspection, where it seems the creators of such propaganda set out to slam Islam and then started looking for lines from the Holy book which they could manipulate by quoting them out of context, or in incomplete sentences.
Just like we cannot call any Hindu scripture a book of violence for depicting scenes of violence in certain parts or call the Bible names for containing scenes of incest, torture and extreme violence, similarly the Koran deserves being read in the right context when the lines were revealed.
Finally, while it is true some Muslims do manipulate to teachings themselves to gain mileage for political causes, we cannot blame a centuries old book for the sins of today.
And just like a Non-Jew is a Gentile, A non-muslim is called a Kafir. It’s just another term that has been blown out of proportion without even attempting to understand what it means. If a person claims himself to be one and is called a non muslim or a disbeliever in Islam there should be no cause for him to get offended. Think about it.
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Hasan, you fail to notice that the lines used from the Quran are used by Muslims to justify their killings of the non-muslims. That’s how these lines came into the picture. No one here is really interested in going over and picking lines from your text. You can keep it.
Sure, no one bothers about the materials from the Hindu texts, because frankly speaking, they DON’T USE THEM as basis for violence against non Hindus. Like the Buddhists.
Ah… by the power of Rama let my bludgeon these non-hindus… just doesn’t happen.
Please read the article gain wrt Westergaard. That guy lives in fear in his own home. You expect public sympathy for muslims after this?
rape, looting, drugs, crime, slavery all have the element of islam common to them. There is no such thing as Islamophobia.
A non-jew is a gentile you say, and so a non-muslim is a kafir. That’s shoddy comparisons. Pathetic.
You believe that after all these hate-crimes in Europe against the natives, this statement holds water? A comparision would be this…
open up middle-east for cultural integration. Let the churches and christians, hindos stay there and make temples. Give them the same rights as we do in Europe.
Then, let these immigrants be the cause for increasing crime-rate, rape and slavery. Let the middle-east see regular rioting by these new communities. then we’ll talk about “no cause for getting offended”.
Right now youre not offended because it is convenient for you to defend your religion and not see the other picture.
Think about it.
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[...] Other recent stories by the author: The Double Standards of ‘Freedom of Speech’, Hindus in the Netherlands, The Failure of Islam in Multicultural [...]
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