It seems that freedom of expression was not that much worse 1,500 years ago as we observe it deteriorating today.
For instance, Prophet Muhammad exercised his rights of freedom of expression in his full capacity by challenging the prevailing beliefs of the time and calling them mere lies.
Despite the opposition to his claims, he had open and huge support from his allies.
But today, in a so-called liberal and enlightened world, challenging some Islamic beliefs is not that easy.
The retreat of famous Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen from her beliefs tells us the magnitude of pressure on dissidents. The growing sense of insecurity in courageous artists such as Nasreen is quite evident in this case.
Reuters news agency reported that the Bangladeshi woman, a Muslim who criticizes the use of religion as an oppressive force, was forced to move from Calcutta, her home in exile, last week after Islamist protests led to riots.
Some radical Muslims hate her for saying Islam and other religions oppress women.
A group of religious leaders issued a “death warrant” against her in August.
Recently, Nasreen told Indian television that she would be dropping some lines from Dwikhondito, her 2003 autobiography.
“Now that some people in India have said they are upset with what I have said, I have decided to drop the controversial portions of the book and have told the publisher to take necessary action,” Nasreen said.
Noted Indian painter Shuvaprassana said: “This is a compromise that she has been forced into for the sake of getting refuge. But if she can drop two pages to get refuge in India, she can drop three pages and go back to Bangladesh.”
The situation is pathetic. The room for open debate is lessening within Muslim communities every day. Vocal extremist Muslim groups are even pushing the United Nations to pass a resolution to ensure respect for religions and convictions.
If that at some stage happens, it would put an end to the possibilities of speaking out on different sensibilities in human life.
We have another challenge to freedom of expression at home, as the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) has filed several human rights complaints against Maclean’s magazine in response to an article, The Future Belongs to Islam, written by Mark Steyn and published on Oct. 23, 2006.
Complaints were submitted to Human Rights Commissions in B.C. and Ontario. The complainants argue that the article subjects Canadian Muslims to hatred.
In its news release, the CIC labels Steyn’s article as “flagrantly Islamophobic.”
In response, a Maclean’s spokesperson provided the following statement: “Mark Steyn is a thoughtful and experienced journalist, and the piece was a commentary on important global political issues.
“It was not in any sense Islamophobic, and Maclean’s is confident that the Human Rights Commissions will find no merit in the complaints.”
It would have been ideal if Islamic groups had argued with Steyn’s point of view through a countering article written in a scholarly way.
Such efforts could have elevated the Muslims’ tolerance to the issues rather than denouncing free debates.
But our hue and cry on each and every matter brings us to the level of a totalitarian approach, which doesn’t give a good impression of our threshold for the general tolerance.
Tahir Aslam Gora is a Pakistani-Canadian writer living in Burlington. He is the author of several books and is working on two manuscripts, Understanding Canadian Multiculturalism and Why Islam Needs to Evolve. goratahir@yahoo.ca