Something is rotten in Denmark

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 02/25/2006 7:00 AM | Opinion

Danish ministers say the government can't condemn the cartoons a daily published mocking the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and that freedom of speech is guaranteed for all and that freedom of the press is also guaranteed by the Danish constitution.

This argument would have been accepted if the constitution does not state otherwise and if the Danish government could say the same thing when it comes to making anti-Semitic remarks. The Danish constitution says: ""The law prohibits publicly disseminated statements, which threaten, insult, or degrade persons based on their religion.""

And this law was used by the Danish government to condemn ""anti-Semitic"" activities and investigate them, as mentioned in the human rights report made by the U.S. State Department regarding Denmark in 2004: ""From January through June, there were five incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism, primarily graffiti, and one incident of an anti-Semitic mailing, which the government condemned and investigated.""

Why a different stand when it comes to Islam? Of course there is nothing new in this. In April last year the queen of Denmark was quoted by the Telegraph newspaper as saying that we (Denmark) ""should show our opposition to Islam"".

She said: ""We are being challenged by Islam these years globally as well as locally. It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and lazy.""

""We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance.""

The problem is not confined to Denmark; some newspapers in some European countries used the same cartoons to say that they support the Danish newspaper's ""freedom of speech"".

These countries that boast about freedom of speech and freedom of press are the same countries that make it illegal and punishable by prison for anyone to question the Holocaust or brandish Nazi symbols in public.

No freedom is absolute; a person's freedom ends when it encroaches onto another person's freedom. Muslim governments should ask the United Nations to pass a law against insulting any religion. We should use all our resources and powers -- economical and political -- to make this happen.

ABUTHALIB AL-MUHDAR Jakarta

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |