Not So Funny Cartoons

They certainly aren't funny... not to me atleast... Something which has caused so much of controversy, agitation and protest... The recent controversy over the Prophet Mohammed cartoons in the Danish paper Jyllands Posten on September 30, 2005 has sparked of a series of everything. More cartoons, more protests, more bonfires, more cartoons again and more counter cartoons.

It turmoil started taking simmering in 2004 when the movie "Submission" by Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was released. Working from a script written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, van Gogh created the 10-minute movie Submission. The movie deals with the topic of violence against women in Islamic societies.... telling the stories of four abused Muslim women. The title itself, "Submission", is the translation of the word "Islam" in english. In the film, the women's naked bodies are veiled with semi-transparent shrouds as they kneel in prayer, telling their stories as if they are speaking to Allah. Quranic verses unfavourable to women are painted on their bodies in Arabic.... after the movie was released in 2004, both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali received death threats

Van Gogh was murdered in the early morning of Tuesday November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam... Eight bullets, slit throat and two knives implanted in his torso… Mohammed Bouyeri was arrested along with eight Islamic radicals belonging to a group later referred to as the Hofstad Network. BBC coverage on the issue

Come 2005 and a writer named Kåre Bluitgen wrote a children's book about the profet Muhammed's life and searched artists to do some illustrations of Muhammed. He only found one artist willing to draw but the artist demanded that his name wouldn't be mentioned. He feared violent attacks from angry muslims (keep in mind the van Gogh murder was still pretty recent). This made Kåre Bluitgen, who is very leftist, openly question the self-censorship and freedom of expression in Denmark. Danish Muslim organizations organised protests after these cartoons were published. As the controversy has grown, some or all of the cartoons have been reprinted in newspapers in more than 30 other countries, which eventually led to significant unrest around the world, particularly in Islamic countries where the cartoons were seen as culturally insensitive, rather outrageous.

As an aftermath of this, more cartoons are being churned out as u read this… Photoshop contests to create more offensive cartoons, anti semitic cartoons, anti Israel cartoons, anti US cartoons…Hell!! even Lord Ganesha hasn’t been spared… (as if M F Hussain and fashion designers, who are inspired to put Hindu deities on undergarments, hadn’t done enough already)

Anti Humanity Cartoons – that’s what they are....
What next???Where are we heading ??? Can the world handle more Crusades??? I think not....