Misuse of freedom of expression in European states
Written By: Altaf Hussain Wani
The highly reprehensible Islamophobic act of burning a copy of the Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque, in Sweden, has evoked widespread condemnations and protests from across the globe. Especially, the incident sparked immense anger and outrage in the Muslim world and rightly so because for Muslims the Quran is a sacred document and any intentional damage, sacrilege or show of disrespect towards it by any one at any place is viewed as deeply offensive. Quran-a work of divine guidance revealed to the last Prophet- Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is Allah’s (God) final revelation to humanity. Pertinently, Quran is not the only divine revelation but along with it the God had revealed holy books and scriptures such as the Tawrah, the Injeel, the Bible, the Zabur to a number of His prophets and messengers who were sent for the guidance of humanity before the prophet Muhammad (SAW). Muslim’s faith would be deemed incomplete without a belief in the existence of God, His angels and the Books the God almighty had revealed (from time to time) on His prophets and messengers. Islam does not permit a Muslim to commit blasphemy against deities of other religions and vice versa blasphemy against Islam therefore remains unacceptable.
This is the reason that the blasphemous act triggered tremendous outpouring of anger from Muslim-majority nations across the globe. Along with Middle Eastern nations including Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia and others have strongly condemned the dastardly Quran-burning incident that hurt the religious sentiments of over one and half billion Muslims.
The Muslim world, which is justifiably concerned about the terrible consequence of such incidents, has time and again voiced its deep distress over EU states’ failure to rein the miscreant elements who resort to such vile attacks, targeting the sacred objects and symbols of Islam and Islamic faith.
Sadly, the European countries, especially the Scandinavian nations have badly failed to prevent the occurrence of such acts that carry with it the potential seeds of discontent and anger. It was quite shocking to see that instead of criminalizing such acts, the Swedish government has given a free license to bigots, anti-Muslim and racists for the expression of hatred and racism under the guise of freedom of expression.
The vicious act of desecrating the Holy Quran in Sweden’s capital of Stockholm — under authorities’ protection is bound to fuel hatred and disrupt the much needed interfaith harmony. The recurrence of these deliberate and state condoned sacrilegious acts, which have nothing to do with freedom of expression, show that discrimination and outright hatred towards Muslims has risen to “epidemic proportions”. The desecration of sacred books, places of worship as well as religious symbols by any person, at any place, is totally unacceptable and nobody, whosoever, can be allowed to exhibit such kind of profaneness in public or play with the religious sentiments of people regardless of their faith. Allowing such reckless and sick-minded people to pour out their anger and outburst against a community, group or people of a particular faith was tantamount to destabilizing the highly polarized world.
The Holy Quran teaches peace, love, respect, compassion, tolerance and interfaith harmony. The Swedish government should tender an apology to Muslims and criminalise such acts which permit defamation of any religion. In order to prevent the recurring incidents of public burning of the Holy Quran, the Swedish Government should introduce new law whereby sacrilege of the Holy Quran is declared as a criminal offence.
It is worth mentioning here that a series of such acts across Europe that happen on Muslim religious occasions revealed recurring themes, that these acts are deliberate and supported by European governments. Under the guise of freedom of expression, these acts have become institutionalized, allowing the rapid rise of far-right groups across Europe, and a source of encouragement for other rightwing elements in Asia especially in India where leaders of ruling elite and radical Hindu groups are engaged in acts of hate crime and hate speech against Muslims and other minorities
Such acts of religious hatred aim to create disharmony between Christians and Muslims and destroy the fabric of an inclusive and peaceful society. Freedom of speech should not permit the defamation of any religion and incitement of violence.
It is quite encouraging that besides the OIC, the United Nations has condemned the incident but issuing statements won’t really help us to fundamentally change the situation on the ground or prevent such lunatic actions.
There is an urgent need for application of international law, which clearly prohibits any advocacy of religious hatred. The OIC being a representative forum must evolve a comprehensive mechanism to counter and dismantle the structural Islamophobia in western societies, launch a diplomatic offensive and persuade European countries especially the Scandinavian nations to criminalize all actions that foster hatred of Muslims and desecration of the Holy Quran.
There are a number of European countries who still condemn and penalize blasphemy and/or ‘insult’ to religion but what they really need to realize is that no one can be allowed to offend or hurt the religious sentiments of a person, a group, or disturb interfaith harmony in a state or upset any sector of population under the guise of freedom of expression. The European nations must realize the fact that Freedom of speech and expression, cannot be recognized as being absolute. There has to be certain limitations and boundaries to exercise this right (freedom of speech) to ensure that it is not exercised in a way that causes harm to others.
Freedom of speech is no doubt vital for all societies to enable plurality of opinions and to meaningfully participate in democracy. It is widely recognised as an essential foundation of liberal, democratic societies but it has been recognised in subsequent international agreements that freedom is not an unrestricted right.
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950, was explicit that the right may be limited by law. Article 10 of the convention reads that “everyone has the right to freedom of expression” but it adds the caveat that restrictions may be imposed for a variety of reasons, including to protect the rights of others:
More importantly, the freedom of expression as a positive obligation demands that the states must not allow this blatant misuse of freedom of expression and opinion or act as a silent spectator but must take effective measures to guarantee an individual’s right to freedom of expression from being violated or infringed upon by other individuals or organisations. One hopes that being champions of interfaith harmony and tolerance the EU states will take effective notice of the matter and take practical steps to stop this grossly misused “Freedom of speech and expression” in future.
Writer is the chairman of Islamabad based think tank –Kashmir Institute of International Relations-He can be approached via email: Saleeemwani@hotmail.com
