The Right To Offend
By Rohan Bannerji
In the early hours of the morning on the 7th of January 2015, two gunmen stormed into the office of a satirical newspaper. These two men, named Cherif and Saïd Kouachi, slaughtered 11 journalists with Kalashnikov machine guns, and painted a bloody picture, on a previously bloodied canvas. This incident of militancy, that came to be known as the Charlie Hebdo attacks, have sparked debates worldwide on freedom of speech.
The attack has caused the international community to place a spotlight on the commonly believed notion that the followers of Islam are easily offended. We see the media and international community forced to choose between the two sides of this debate between those who side with the militants and those who side with the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo. However, many fail to realize that this event is one that cannot be merely looked at by two different perspectives.
Although very few people refrain from condoning the barbaric attacks committed by the two gunmen, a proliferating amount of people have shown solidarity with Muslims worldwide, especially those in France. In some countries, the works published by Charlie Hebdo, having drawn caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (a drawing that is prohibited by the Koran), are criminal under the charge of blasphemy. These cartoons are infamous among France’s Muslim community, as they are considered to depict the Prophet Muhammad in a manner that many consider offensive (one cartoon depicts the Prophet with his pants down). My perspective is that in France, the voice of its Muslim people are suppressed. According to Pew Research, Muslim’s only constitute for 10% of the French population, and as a result, this community has a minimal amount of say in what goes on, and an increasing amount of them feel marginalized in their own country as a result of the rise of anti immigration parties in Europe, that are gaining power on a rapid scale. One such example is France’s own ‘National Front’, whose leader Marine Le Pen made a statement saying that “The progressive Islamisation of our country and the increase in political-religious demands are calling into question the survival of our civilisation.” Comments like this cause French Muslims to be given the sentiment that they are outsiders in a land that they try to identify with as their own, and are depicted as pariahs in their own community. In an article by The Local, a French Newspaper, a group of Muslim women in Paris stated that “The French say we’re not French”, along with one of them confessing that “I felt that I was French till people told me I wasn’t.” It is evident by these comments that France’s Muslim community is one that increasingly feels isolated from the fellow residents of the country that they attempt to call home. Circumstances only grow worse for them when their religion is targeted as worthy for satire.
What us, as the international community must come to realize, is that religion is a subject that is far too sensitive to ridicule. Additionally, it is our obligation to understand that as much as the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo have the right to ridicule a religion, they must consider the fact that this causes Muslims worldwide to feel offended, and feel a sense of isolation, which more often than not leads innocent minds into radicalism. In a BBC interview, a French Muslim man said that “when youths start asking tough questions, such as “why can’t my mom drop me to school since she wears a Hijab, or why do cartoons ridicule my religion” it causes them to seek answers, which more often than not lead them to asking the wrong people” These wrong people, such as radical Imams who communicate everything apart from the word of Allah, often utilize these moments of doubt towards others as the commencing point of radicalism. As the Pope so brilliantly put it “You have the freedom of speech to make fun of my mother, but you also have the freedom to know that a punch awaits you.” What the media must come to understand, is that they have the right to send messages, and influence opinions. However, they must understand that the utilization of their rights of free speech can often lead to the demeanor of a certain group or person’s pride, which causes their words to be interpreted as hate speech. It is the obligation of the media, and our society as a whole, to reflect on past events that have caused communities to feel marginalized, and ensure that we do not repeat acts that are considered as hate speech. France prohibits by its penal code and by its press laws public and private communication which is defamatory or insulting, or which incites discrimination, hatred, or violence against a person or a group of persons on account of place of origin, ethnicity or lack thereof, nationality, race, specific religion, sex, sexual orientation, or handicap. Furthermore, it is the obligation of a nation’s respective judicial system to recognize its role in having the legal jurisdiction over what exactly counts as defamatory and insulting, and take relevant measures in order to prosecute those who insult others based on the grounds mentioned.
However, the acts committed by these two misled brothers were completely barbaric in nature, and are accepted by no religion. Once again, we are exposed to individuals who have fallen prey to the words of radical preachers and are led on the furthest path from what their religion advocates.
But perhaps, the world will look at this incident as one that we cannot ignore, and realize that people of no religion should be led to the extent that they feel the urge to commit such crimes.
Minorities are a group that have long been targeted by the media. But it is not our right to ridicule those who have a limited say in the happenings around them. On the contrary, we should make our media one that makes them feel empowered.
By Rohan Bannerji
Stay tuned for our upcoming article that highlights the opposite side of the story.
Sources:
Muslims in France - 'They say we're not French' (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.thelocal.fr/20150122/muslims-in-france-weve-never-felt-integrated
French, Republican and Muslim, Insha' Allah? [Radio series episode]. In BBC-The Report . London : BBC .
