It’s of course easier said than done; one other logical step can be to leave the country where, in the name of free speech, faith is ridiculed.
Just a few hours ago, there was a shooting in Garland, Texas, USA, where reportedly, two men were shot and killed by police after they fired and wounded a security guard at the entrance of an anti-Islamic cartoon contest declaring a $10,000 award for the winning drawing.
That means, the caricature depicting the darker side of radical Islam using the Prophet would be applauded and the cartoonist handed a cash prize!
Sometimes a thought piques the mind -- since there is so much debate about the sanctity of liberated expressions, why don’t we arrange something similar in Bangladesh?
Let’s say, anyone lampooning a religion would be given a Tk5 lakh prize, and maybe some TV or car manufacturer would come forward with a free gift.
After all, we are supposed to pick up the best practices of developed nations.
Er, but what about social harmony and hurting the belief of minority faith communities?
Oh! Who cares what they think, since attaining mutual social respect is certainly not an issue, whether they feel offended or not is of little consequence.
Free speech, free speech, hell yeah!
Maybe a good idea would be to invite the self-proclaimed secularists (those who bash religion to appear stylishly nihilist) at the event to form a panel board -- faith be damned!
The right to speak out one’s mind stands supreme.
By the way, freedom of speech seems to have lost some fiery potency when it comes to speaking up against the irregularities that took place in the recent municipal elections. A week after the polls, everything is back to normal.
So, we live in an age when despite empirical evidence, irregularities are carried out with blatant impunity.
But tell me honestly: Since so much brouhaha has happened over attacks on atheist bloggers, isn’t it just about time a cartoon exhibition is held here in Bangladesh?
We do have large vocal exponents of the Western-style secularism.
Going to the Texas shooting -- it seems that the event was a plot to fish out those who may feel the urge to react to events that publicly mock a religion, Islam to be precise.
Or maybe such moves are deliberate drives to further widen the already existing gap between the Muslim communities residing in Western nations and the so-called secular sections.
Perhaps I am not wrong in stating that with the ongoing global economic tumult, the faith-based provocation card is being played strategically to upset social harmony and trigger widespread communal tensions, leading to either social ostracisation or to mass exodus.
A few months ago, the Charlie Hebdo magazine came under attack, following which, security in France was ratcheted up on the rationale that all elements that may prove to be a threat to secular values need to be dealt with pre-emptively.
This can be deconstructed in two ways -- one, with such high level of security, certain minority communities will be kept under pressure and made to adhere to values of the majority and, two, any possible migration of minorities would be deterred.
But what it won’t be able to do is tackle the resentment simmering inside people who will accept the laws of the land for the time being, but will wait for an opportune moment to strike back.
Now, while former imperial nations can easily state that either people from previous colonies must blend in or leave, they cannot simply drive out millions of people because they have become part of their societies as a by-product of centuries of imperial links.
Just a very moral observation: When imperial forces went to other countries, they did not comply to the mores of their victim nations, at least not after they managed to create a mess in those states with complex shenanigans.
The Europeans during the reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir behaved very well, respecting all local customs. When the Portuguese became unruly, fortifying Port Hoogly, Emperor Shahjahan, Jahangir’s successor, sent forces to give the renegade European settlement a lesson.
Of course, we know what happened eventually … some can only wonder if Shahjahan had been more rigorous in dealing with outsiders then …
Contradictions and possibilities aside, in real terms, present day minority communities in developed societies should either blend in or just stop staying in foreign nations.
That way, cartoons won’t bother!
On the other hand, no matter how much Western societies harp on the inviolable power of free speech, they need to acknowledge that for certain communities, religion is sensitive, hence it’s better not to stir up tensions by going into sensitive areas.
Declaring a hefty cash prize for demeaning someone’s faith is like deliberately picking a fight. Such actions will only dissuade minorities in Western societies from trying to integrate.
Even the liberal Muslim will feel disgruntled which may, in certain cases, snowball thus sowing the first seeds of radical belief.
Anyway, Western leaders, social thinkers know a lot more so let’s come back to the plan of arranging a cartoon festival in Bangladesh. Maybe some of the representatives of countries that value free speech above all else would want to be the sponsor?
The question is: Will Bangladesh as a whole, believing that mockery has a limit, permit such an exhibition in the spirit of free expression?