The Paris Attack

I have repeatedly said that all religions should be respected.

The French magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed regarded offensive by many Muslims.

 The question is : how should Muslims react ?

My answer is : just ignore the cartoons.

If such cartoons had been published in India they would have attracted section 295A of the Indian Penal Code which states :

 "Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both."

  However, the cartoons were published in France, where Indian laws do not apply  the culture is different, and there is no law similar to section 295A I.P.C.

 Charlie Hebdo has also lampooned other religions too e.g. Christianity. For example, it has published cartoons showing Jesus Christ sodomizing God, and the Pope eloping with a Swiss Guard. There is no law in France making such cartoons criminal.

 While my own personal view is that all religions should be respected, and therefore such cartoons should not have been published, at the same time I am also of the view that the best way to respond to them is to ignore them.

 If an attack is made on the publishers, as was done in Paris, the result will be a backlash against Muslims all over the world, particularly in France, Germany, and other European countries, in which mosques will be burnt, Muslims killed or injured, their houses attacked and their property looted. Surely that should be avoided.

I appeal to my Muslim brothers and sisters to act in accordance with reason, not emotion.