No laughing matter: Cartoon fury rages unabated

By Gade.Karthikpavan for Andhranews.info

The twelve cartoons satirizing Prophet Muhammad published in several European newspapers have caused outrage among Muslims across the world.

In recent weeks protests have turned violent and diplomatic missions have been attacked in several countries.

The caricatures originally appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten accompanying an editorial criticizing self-censorship in the Danish media.

Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprinted the caricatures on grounds of defending freedom of speech.

The cartoons were anything but funny for Muslims who instead find them sacrilegious.

Informed position

The violent outcry has raised questions over the balance between the rights of a free press and the rights of a religious believer not to be offended.

Satire undoubtedly has no limits but when you satirise something it has to be done from an informed position.

In an age of globalization, where one cannot suppress what is being published in the West from the third world, it is imperative that you be mindful of what other people think, believe and feel.

It is rather presumptuous to assume what a particular community is capable of taking.

There is a thin line between being open and being tasteful. It is extremely immature to insult another's sincere beliefs simply to prove that we are 'allowed' to.

Fearless expression

But for the sake of safeguarding democratic principles, it is important to understand that media cannot be held hostage to a policy of appeasement.

It is all about taking an informed position on raging issues and giving it fearless expression.

There will always be someone or something that offends us but we have to deal with it. This is the point of living in a free society.

Intelligent debate

The lawless reaction by the so-called Muslim extremists is totally unacceptable.

The question that comes to mind is why don't we see the same commitment in demonstrating against those who spread terror with suicide bombs and beheadings.

It makes better sense for readers to express their resentment to something offensive by peaceful protests and letting the publication know about what caused the hurt in a dialogue of sorts.

Something controversial can often get a good discussion going. But sadly angry Muslims have expressed their views by being violent, and essentially saying that since they are offended, the rest of the world must also follow suit.

Open to criticism

In a democracy nothing, not even religion, is free form criticisms or mockery, provided it refrains from provocation. Thus it is mindless to kill people over a newspaper.

Newspapers have the right to publish; people have the right to disapprove but no one has the right to be violent.

The din over the issue has come as a wake up call, urging us to develop a genuinely multicultural society where a mere editorial cartoon does not spark mindless acts of violence