By Dr Absar Aftab Absar
The anomaly of freedom of speech and expression has grappled the entire world off late. The latest example is that of the burning of the Holy Quran by the Danish-Swedish, Rasmus Paludan. The vicious act of his speaks volumes, that what is being advocated and propagated in the name of Freedom of Speech and Expression. What primarily comes to mind is that, is this right absolute? No, obviously not, specially in the case of India, as there are reasonable restrictions mentioned under Article 19, curtailing the rights of citizens from going beyond the bounds set by restrictions. Let us now take a look at the countries which are considered “progressive” and pioneering in granting the freedom of speech and expression to it’s citizens.
The United States of America
The United States of America, where the first amendment to the Constitution, apparently provides no riders to the Freedom of Speech and Expression, and anything happens there in the name of this right, creating problems for the judiciary, as to which side to go for. In this country recently, a survey showed that half of the American population wants the ‘National Flag burning’ to be a declared as a crime.The United States has a long list of cases to showcase the amount of discontentment and confusion, the language of first amendment of the Constitution raises.
Germany
Germany, one of the members of European Union, which boasts to be one of the progressive countries amongst the Union, has made illegal the burning of the European Union flag (EU), which is not even a country.
France
France, which has imposed a number of sanctions on people professing Islam, and portraying Muslims as a threat to the French society , has even made the sharing and broadcasting of images or videos of flag burning, a crime, let alone burning the flag itself.
Sweden and Denmark
Sweden and Denmark, which are considered to be the least religious countries on the planet, have gone a step ahead and declared the burning of the Holy Quran as legal and a way of freedom of expression. In Denmark , the vicious act of burning the Holy book is taking place since 2017, and to protect the desecrator from the conviction, the Danish Parliament altogether revokes centuries old Blasphemy laws, which though was not stopping people from insulting religions, but anyhow was there.
The Latest Episode
The latest episode of the disgusting legacy of burning Holy books was carried forward by Rasmus Paludan, Far Right Danish-Swedish politician, the act may be political as well, because the Turkey holds the key for Sweden to become a NATO ( The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member, which the President of Turkey has recently blocked. The burning of the Holy book was with official permission to Paludan, which translates this into an official way to protest against the President of Turkey by Sweden. The Swedish Prime Minister has expressed his “condemnation” or “approval”, through the Twitter in the following words, “Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act. I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today”. The statements are not assertive and indicates mild approval of the act in the name of speech and expression, and also shows lack of basic understanding between the Speech and Hate Speech. The examples of countries, as mentioned above, where the flag desecration is said to be against Freedom of Speech and Expression, the only reason for this analogy could be presence of Hate, which if overshadows the Speech. If a nation’s integrity can be saved by way of protecting it’s flag, by not allowing anyone to disrespect it, why can’t the same logic be applied to protect a Religion. Why do countries vociferously sacrifices Religion first, in the name of “absoluteness” of freedom of speech and expression.
A Food For Thought
A simple question to the ones advocating such ridiculous act in the name of speech and expression, that isn’t it a hate speech or a hate crime, where a Holy book of is burnt with official permission and under official security? A country which otherwise, is termed as friendly and “inclusive”, suddenly loses it’s character and starts attacking religious institutions and holy book of a particular religious community. A country which still fights over issues like veils, hijab etc., does it still have the audacity to fight for speech and expression? The one motive which is observed off late, of the countries which are after hijab ban etc., is that they apparently advocate that the speech and expression should not be driven by Religion, but an ideology acceptable to them, if it does not, then it comes under the scanners and may be restricted or banned altogether. Finally, the most pertinent question remains that, the vicious act of burning the Holy book seems more like denigrating and disrespecting the Muslim community as a whole rather than protecting speech and expression of a pervert like Rasmus Paludan .
The act of Paludan a Hate Crime?
The anomaly of Freedom of Speech and Expression has grappled the entire world off late. The latest example is that of the burning of the Holy Quran by the Danish-Swedish, Rasmus Paludan. The vicious act of his speaks volumes, that what is being advocated and propagated in the name of Freedom of Speech and Expression. What primarily comes to mind is that, is this right absolute? No, obviously not, specially in the case of India, as there are reasonable restrictions mentioned under Article 19, curtailing the rights of citizens from going beyond the bounds set by restrictions. Let us now take a look at the countries which are considered “progressive” and pioneering in granting the freedom of speech and expression to it’s citizens.
The United States of America
The United States of America, where the first amendment to the Constitution, apparently provides no riders to the Freedom of Speech and Expression, and anything happens there in the name of this right, creating problems for the judiciary, as to which side to go for. In this country recently, a survey showed that half of the American population wants the ‘National Flag burning’ to be a declared as a crime . The United States has a long list of cases to showcase the amount of discontentment and confusion, the language of first amendment of the Constitution raises.
Germany
Germany, one of the members of European Union, which boasts to be one of the progressive countries amongst the Union, has made illegal the burning of the European Union flag (EU), which is not even a country
France
France, which has imposed a number of sanctions on people professing Islam, and portraying Muslims as a threat to the French society , has even made the sharing and broadcasting of images or videos of flag burning, a crime, let alone burning the flag itself.
Sweden and Denmark
Sweden and Denmark, which are considered to be the least religious countries on the planet, have gone a step ahead and declared the burning of the Holy Quran as legal and a way of freedom of expression. In Denmark , the vicious act of burning the Holy book is taking place since 2017, and to protect the desecrator from the conviction, the Danish Parliament altogether revokes centuries old Blasphemy laws, which though was not stopping people from insulting religions, but anyhow was there.
The Latest Episode
The latest episode of the disgusting legacy of burning Holy books was carried forward by Rasmus Paludan, Far Right Danish-Swedish politician, the act may be political as well, because the Turkey holds the key for Sweden to become a NATO ( The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member, which the President of Turkey has recently blocked. The burning of the Holy book was with official permission to Paludan, which translates this into an official way to protest against the President of Turkey by Sweden. The Swedish Prime Minister has expressed his “condemnation” or “approval”, through the Twitter in the following words, “Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act. I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today”. The statements are not assertive and indicates mild approval of the act in the name of speech and expression, and also shows lack of basic understanding between the Speech and Hate Speech. The examples of countries, as mentioned above, where the flag desecration is said to be against Freedom of Speech and Expression, the only reason for this analogy could be presence of Hate, which if overshadows the Speech. If a nation’s integrity can be saved by way of protecting it’s flag, by not allowing anyone to disrespect it, why can’t the same logic be applied to protect a Religion. Why do countries vociferously sacrifices Religion first, in the name of “absoluteness” of freedom of speech and expression.
A Food For Thought
A simple question to the ones advocating such ridiculous act in the name of speech and expression, that isn’t it a hate speech or a hate crime, where a Holy book of is burnt with official permission and under official security? A country which otherwise, is termed as friendly and “inclusive”, suddenly loses it’s character and starts attacking religious institutions and holy book of a particular religious community. A country which still fights over issues like veils, hijab etc., does it still have the audacity to fight for speech and expression? The one motive which is observed off late, of the countries which are after hijab ban etc., is that they apparently advocate that the speech and expression should not be driven by Religion, but an ideology acceptable to them, if it does not, then it comes under the scanners and may be restricted or banned altogether. Finally, the most pertinent question remains that, the vicious act of burning the Holy book seems more like denigrating and disrespecting the Muslim community as a whole rather than protecting speech and expression of a pervert like Rasmus Paludan .
