Wednesday, May 23, 2012

03/14/08, Letter to the Editor, printed in the Christian Science Monitor

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Reprinted cartoons represent hypocrisy
By Sohail Husain, New Haven, Conneticut

Regarding the March 10 article, "Danish Cartoons: One Afghan's peaceful protest": When I think about Denmark, usually the image of savory butter cookies comes to mind. But there is nothing sweet about Denmark these days. Several Danish newspapers last month reprinted cartoons that offensively depicted the holy founder of Islam, the prophet Muhammad. The editors of the originating newspaper, the Jyllands-Posten, justified reprinting the cartoons in response to an alleged plot to murder one of the cartoonists by a few Muslim extremists. As pointed out by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, "what was the need to reprint the cartoons when the police had already apprehended the three people who were alleged to be plotting against one of the cartoonists?"

What's even more troubling is that the same newspaper in 2003 vetoed the publishing of a cartoon relating to Jesus Christ, with the reasoning that caricatures of Jesus were offensive and not funny. We wish the same decency and forbearance were extended in the current situation. Instead, twisted revenge and double standards plague the decision to reprint the cartoons of the prophet of Islam. Sadly, perhaps Shakespeare's Marcellus was right in saying, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

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