From Paris to Pakistan and beyond, once again billions of people representing Islam, Christianity and other religions are questioning the misuse of freedom of speech against the latest episode of blasphemes caricatures of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Charlie Hebdo’s caricatures came out soon after the attack on its office situated in a high surveillance area in Paris. Charlie Hebdo’s blasphemous cartoons represented a certain racist brand of French xenophobia.
The satirical magazine generously claims to attack everyone equally (excluding Jews). However, the cartoons they publish are anti-Islamic and mostly homophobic. Ironically, their freedom of speech mostly practiced against Islam and its followers.
Double faced liberalists
Since many years, Western Liberalists and hypocritical Islamophobics are accusing Quran, blaspheming the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and defaming Islam in the name of free speech and expression. Ironically, they hardly raise their voices against Jews and Holocaust.
The so-called champions of free speech can easily question the sanctity of Islam, but cannot tolerate if David Irving (the famous British author) denies holocaust. His imprisonment is the ample proof of western double standards on free speech.
Similarly, if a French magazine (Closer) forced to shut down its business in France for publishing private pictures of Lady Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Later, a British tabloid (the Sun) attracted criticism for publishing pictures of Prince Harry. The tabloid apologize the royal couple for invading their privacy and defaming them in public.
How it happens
In fact, people who follow any religion other than Islam do not realize how disrespectful it is to draw something forbidden in their religion. One must not forget that free speech has its limits and the misuse of freedom of speech in Charlie Hebdo provoked millions of protesters in several countries to burn French flag and an effigy of the French president to demand that prohibit the satirical weekly.
Verdict
In fact, Charlie Hebdo avenged by the French authorities, its surviving staff, and even by the supporters of free press, but this is not the issue of vengeance or an eye for an eye in the name of expressing free ideas. There was no reason to draw immoral and blasphemes caricatures to provoke Muslims.
In particular, one should not abuse freedom of expression to “provoke” or “offend” others deliberately, and should not be surprised when they react aggressively.
Muslims do not go around making offensive caricatures of any other religion or post them to the world under the banner of “freedom of speech”. The recent attack on Charlie Hebdo was not an attack on so-called freedom of speech, but the misuse of free expressions and wrong depiction of ideas. West should learn a lesson to live in peace and harmony with Islam.
