The chain of tragedies and horrific killings that had gripped the world at large I thought had somewhere ended with the end of 2014. But Alas! I was wrong, in the very beginning of the New Year; the office of a French satirical magazine was attacked by allegedly men belonging to extremist group. The world was taken aback by the killings of 12 journalists at the office of Charlie Hebdo. Within a few hours most social media websites were streaming with cartoons that supported Charlie Hebdo and spoke about freedom of speech and expression.
A day later when I logged into my Facebook account, my news feed was full of status, updates, links, cartoons that were being shared by people who were agitated, frustrated and hurt. Well before I indulge in reasoning out the facts that made me say #IamnotCharlie, I would like to pay my condolences to the bereaved families of France who have lost their loved ones in the attack. Violence, extremism, terrorism and killings have nothing to do with Islam. What has happened in France or what had happened in Peshawar are brutal blows to humanity. The people who are behind these horrific killings are surely the ones who haven’t read even a page of the Holy Quran. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) spoke about toleration and moderation.
If the extremist group had gone to the office of Charlie Hebdo to take a revenge and thought it was a part of the Jihad. Then let me ask them one simple question is this the first instance that the Messenger of Allah (SWT) were insulted and mocked? What did the Holy Prophet do when he faced hardships and insults in the city of Mecca? Did he kill anyone?
Arsalaan Iftikhar, human rights lawyer when speaking to Don Lemon on CNN spoke about a major issue which the whole Muslim community is facing today. Right after the Paris attack took place the question – “Does Islam encourage violence” was being floated all over news channels and various other media portals. Mr. Iftikhar quoted the example of our Prophet (PBUH) and said that at various occasions during her lifetime he was insulted and defamed. But not at even one instance did he instruct his companions or his followers to take revenge. Further he spoke about how no religion on the face of earth has been eliminated from religious acts of terrorism.
Now coming to hash tag activism and social media activism and the reasons why I would want to use the hash tag #IamnotCharlie are as follows:
- The first inference readers reading this post would draw after they read my name and the title of this article is that it is my religious identity that has forced me to stand in opposition of freedom of speech and expression. Well my dear readers that is not the case. I do not oppose freedom of expression, as a student of media, appreciation of art was among the first lessons I learnt. But there is a clear distinction between mockery and art. I appreciate Art but not Mockery!
- Secondly, if we talk about humanity and how the killings were unjustified and criminal. We should also stand by the fact that only if we are humane can we learn to respect the sentiments and feelings of others. As a Muslim if I can respect the personal opinions of people who are supporting Charlie Hebdo as they feel it was just art and some call it intelligent art as well. Then why can’t the world also respect my opinion of not being able to attach myself to a magazine that was blatantly attacking my religious beliefs. #IamnotCharlie but I condemn the killings and clearly label them as brutal.
- IamnotCharlie because as an individual I have a strong ideology of not appreciating the mockery of any religion. Be it the nude painting of Hindu Goddess by MF Husain, use of pictures of Hindu deities on footwear, burning down of churches etc.
- With Freedom comes responsibilities, therefore any work of art or writing should be created with an idea to inform, entertain, enlighten and not to mock in an infantile manner. I would like to go to the extent of saying that Charlie Hebdo was also treading the same path somewhere which is walked upon by the extremist groups. If we also resort to the same form of extremism, by insulting a religion continuously then where’s the difference? It is high time we draw a line.
- If we are free to express our opinion and view, we are not free to oppress or insult. Imagine a world where everyone uses their freedom of expression to abuse or hit anyone and everyone? Being free and independent doesn’t mean we forget what humanity teaches us or what restraint means. If we believe in humanity we will definitely never ending up hurting the other human living on this planet.
I have a really small request to make to the readers and the world out there, let us all pledge to become tolerant towards each other. If we really wish to make this planet a happier place to live we all need to practise two things – tolerance and restraint. Also I would like to end my blog with the words of Rana Ayyub: “French have my condolences but not my apology”
