DC discusses the attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo vis-a-vis freedom of speech

One must respect others’ sentiments: Muslims across the world strongly disagree with and condemn the terrorist activities of the al-Qaeda, IS, Boko Haram, LeT etc. No one can justify the violence that took place in France.

There was universal condemnation of this terrorist act from the Muslim Council of France and other Muslim bodies across the globe. In this particular terror attack, a Muslim policeman and a Muslim staffer of Charlie Hebdo were among those killed. We have to realise that terrorists have no region or religion.

In condemning terrorism, there should be no discrimination. The Western world has to show the same kind of condemnation towards the killings in Afghanistan, Palestine and Nigeria, as in the case of France.

Prof Tariq Ramadan of the Oxford University has rightly pointed out: “There needs to be a more nuanced reaction to the atrocities and for a real attempt to understand the grievances that might lead such people to commit such extreme acts of violence.

The divergent responses to the deaths of westerners and those of other individuals around the globe may be partly to blame for the growing appeal of extreme ideology.

There should be an equal value for all human life and it should not lead to any form of justification or absolution for those who believe they have authority to judge who should live or who should die.”

You have every right to criticise Islam and its teachings and to also disagree. But at the same time, you don’t have a right to insult our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

In France, if you deny the Holocaust, it is an offence. If a demonstration is held for the Palestine cause in Paris, it earns a one-year imprisonment with a 1,000 euro fine.

What kind of freedom of expression is that? There are laws in Europe which prohibit insulting and blaspheming Prophet Jesus, but why is there no such law for the Prophets of other religions?

Cartoons against the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), which were carried by certain magazines in Europe from time to time, have hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the globe and the Western world has not changed its attitude despite protests from the Muslims.

But the magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was targeted by the terrorists, incidentally sacked a cartoonist in 2008 for a cartoon caricaturing the former French President Sarkozy’s son marrying a Jewish woman.

The Holy Quran very clearly says that people who insult the Prophets of Allah are the worst of beings and the Holy Quran clearly says that killing of an innocent human being is like killing entire mankind.

France and Europe should understand they are no more exclusive White man’s nations. Now, they have become multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-racial. They have large numbers of people from their erstwhile colonies and they just cannot ignore the religious sensitivities of these people.

One must know that the Muslim world is fighting against the scourge of terrorism. Millions of Muslims have laid down their lives and the so-called super-powers have to see the realities which are leading to a spurt in terrorism.

MIM president and Hyderabad mp, Asaduddin Owaisi

Muslims should defy radical elements: The outrage against the killing of journalists and security personnel in Paris is understandable. The killings are condemnable by people of all faiths.

In the West, it is normal to express yourself freely and enjoy the protections provided by democratic institutions and the laws that support the right to expression.

The heinous crime at the office of Charlie Hebdo was inevitable, even the French security personnel knew it and that is why they had deployed extra security measures around the satirical magazine’s office. However, they failed to prevent the attack.

The reason for the attack is apparently the ridiculing of Abu Baker al-Baghdadi, the so-called Islamic State’s ‘Caliph’.

We love most things French liberty, equality, fraternity, wine, perfume, etiquette, songs and even humour to some extent, if it is not directed at a particular faith. What we do not like are its colonial history, current military interventions, foreign policy especially when it is meant to erase secular nations to replace them with its brand of political Islam under the pretext of promoting democratic values.

In a civilised multi-cultural society, people must respect other faiths and know the limits of their freedom of expression and draw the line between free expressions and hate by intention.

Humans are violent by nature and respond differently to different situations. Individual acts by a minority in France to uphold their right to free speech went beyond the usual territory to ridicule and gain popularity, which they saw as a normal practice in the secular West.

The question one must ask here is, why should the Muslims apologise whenever an attack by a fanatic is carried out in the name of their faith, despite the fact that they never appointed these terrorists to speak or act on their behalf?

Most of the crimes are committed by ‘graduates’ from Tora Bora, the Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons, and the Cropper and Ronald Bucca camps in Iraq, where they are considered rebels and freedom fighters when they kill their fellow citizens, but terrorists when they attack the West.

The attack was meant to educate people more about the brand they promoted IS cadres, trained, fully equipped and unleashed to create havoc and destabilise the whole region.
We in the Arab world, especially in Syria, Iraq and Libya, are suffering the most and are living at their mercy.

The victims, to whom my heart goes out, are actually the victims of their own government policy of joining hands with radical theological regimes to destabilise West Asia for their greed.

Having said that, I would add here that Muslims must stand up and rise again to defend their religion and reject those imamists and fatwaists (self-declared clergies) and desist from movements like Wahhabism and Salafism, which are trying to tarnish the essence of their faith of equality, tolerance and fraternity and love towards all human beings.

We are responsible for allowing these extremist and radical doctrines to flourish, and it is time we address our grievances and not blame others. Reform should start at our homes.

Senior International reporter, New Delhi, Dr Waiel Awwad