It is time for moderates from the Muslim community to raise their voices loud and clear once again.

Published in http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ on February 10, 2006.

Last week or so has been dreadful for Muslims in Europe and race relations here have been set back a few years. Non-Muslims and non-religious people may have difficulty appreciating the depths of sensitivity that go with Prophet Muhammad (SM) ever being insulted. As far as that goes, Muslims have a right to make their objections known and their sensitivities expressed and explained to the wider community.

Having said that, one cannot help but feel disturbed if not disgusted by the methods of some the street protests that have gone on in London and Middle Eastern cities. Placard carrying thugs dressed as suicide bombers wishing the beheadings of those that insult the Prophet hardly raises any sympathy. Palestinian gun toting men surrounding the mission of the European Union (which happens to be one of the biggest supporters of their cause), boisterous men torching the Danish Embassies in Middle Eastern cities, and the willingness of many Muslims to shun commerce with Denmark illustrate nothing but hot headed buffoonery typical of the uneducated street culture prevalent in so many Muslim countries.

Owing to the fact that many of these protesters (other than the ones who in London) live under autocratic regimes where newspaper materials are decided and financed by the government, it was lost on them that the cartoons that insulted the Prophet were the work of independent newspapers operating under a democratic regime where the government hardly controls what is published or not. The propensity of Muslims around the world to hold the Danish government itself responsible and punish Danish businesses for the publication of the cartoons defy logic and rationality.

Pakistani men burning Danish, American and Israeli flags on this occasion (or any other) have shut the door closer to inter-faith and inter-community understanding with Europe. Europe is now rightfully alarmed at the influence of Militant Islam that has crept up unbeknownst to most of the wider community. However, non-Muslim Europeans who still have the role of playing host to the growing pool of Muslims here have room for improvement. Critiquing Islam can only be a good thing and ought to be welcomed by all. It will facilitate the reformation of Islam and help Muslims in Europe and North America assimilate into their respective societies. However, if the motive of the Danish newspapers and subsequently that of the French and other European ones, were to provoke the sensitivities of Muslims and that provocation was the only if not the predominant factor, then the sense of responsibility that comes with their freedom of press and freedom of expression can be seriously questioned.

I applaud the British and American press for staying above the fray, though many people will coin that gesture as bowing to intimidation by the Muslim communities. I feel that refraining from republishing those cartoons here has illustrated some degree of responsibility on behalf of the editors. Rightfully they decided that publishing the cartoons added no new substance to the story but could only fuel further unrest locally and globally for reasons that may or may not be justified.

It is time for moderates from the Muslim community to raise their voices loud and clear once again. They failed to effectively condemn September 11 in America and many other atrocities committed by Muslim fundamentalists around the globe since then. July 7 in London prompted some soul searching and the Muslim community in the UK is now noticeably active in some much needed house cleaning and public relations acts to promote better understanding of their faith among the wider community. That momentum must be taken further to eliminate the culture of hot headedness, victim hood and jihad (in its current manifestation) from the mindsets of the entire Muslim world.

Non-Muslims and non-religious people in the Western world too could meet the Muslim moderates half way by having an open mind. The newspapers concerned could have predicted the backlash, justified or unjustified, by having a greater degree of understanding of the reverence with which Sunni Muslims hold their Prophet.