A man holds a placard which reads ‘I am Charlie’ to pay tribute during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris. (Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters)
Malaysians have spoken out against the terror attack on French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo that claimed twelve lives.
Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm) activist Radzi Razak said that the publication had stayed true to its cause and did not deserve the backlash from the terrorists.
“The attack was not just on Charlie Hebdo, but an attack on journalism as a whole,” he said, expressing his solidarity with the victims.
The publication, which runs religious and political satire, often does not shy away from caricaturising Muslims, Jews and Christians.
The attack came after Charlie Hebdo’s latest tweet on its account featured an Islamic State (IS) militant group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Reports say the publication has received multiple death threats in the past and its editor Stephane Charbonnier lived under police protection. He too, was killed in the attack while conducting his daily editorial meeting with his staff. The incident took place at about 11.30 am Wednesday, Paris time.
“Even the Prophet Muhammad himself, when attacked with words, did not respond with violence,” Radzi told The Rocket.
When asked if he thinks Malaysia would see religious satire in the future, he said that if even Malaysian political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, popularly known as Zunar, could be persecuted, it is highly unlikely that we would be seeing anything of the sort.
Zunar was recently charged under the Sedition Act for his cartoon, Komplot Penjarakan Anwar (Plot to Jail Anwar). When contacted, he expressed feeling very sad and shaken by news of the killings.
“No one should have to die for expressing their views, whether or not others see it as insulting,” Zunar said when contacted.
He strongly condemned the attack which he said “confirmed what the cartoonists had depicted”.
“I don’t believe in attacking or condemning any central tenets of a religion, but caricaturing the behaviour of Muslims is an entirely different thing,” he told The Rocket.
Charlie Hebdo, he said, was merely expressing views on Muslims, and the subsequent murders only proved what the cartoons were saying. He said that to challenge criticism against Muslims in cartoons, one must use rational discourse and not violence.
The paper had in the past poked fun at the Prophet Muhammad by naming him as its “editor-in-chief” in 2011. Following that, the offices of the French weekly were petrol bombed.
David Pope renowned cartoonist from Canberra Times tweeted this heart wrenching cartoon following the attack (Pic from David Pope’s Twitter page)
Zunar told The Rocket that he recalled Malaysian Muslims being angered by a publication of a cartoon back in 2006. In that incident, the New Straits Times had published a cartoon which was said to have been insulting to Muslims. The incident caused quite a stir; Muslims demonstrated and condemned the paper for having published the cartoon. Curious, he had questioned some of the Muslim demonstrators who protested the publishing of the cartoon in the newspaper.
“I remember asking him, if he actually saw the cartoon, and he said no.”
“This is the attitude of Malaysians who act based on hearsay and refuse to be involved in discourse with those who are simply expressing themselves.”
Although Zunar could not say for sure how Malaysians would react to religious satire, he said that it “might receive the same backlash as in France”.
On his website, Zunar had suggested that January 7, the day of the killings, should be declared as “World Cartoonist’s Day”, in honour of Stéphane Charbonnier, Cabu, Wolinski and Tignous who were four cartoonists among the 12 who were murdered in the incident.
“With regards to Islamic content issues, as a Muslim myself, I would like to challenge the Muslim authorities around the world to work closer with cartoonists to produce cartoons that can show the true image of Islam – a religion of peace, tolerance and moderation.”
“Terror is unacceptable in a civilised world,” he said.
Perpetrators are the enemy of Islam
Politicians too, have weighed in on the situation.
“The culprits who committed these murders purportedly in the name of Islam are actually the enemies of Islam and must be swiftly brought to justice,” said Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali responding to the incident in a statement today.
According to witnesses, the armed men had exclaimed “Alahu Akhbar!” (Allah is Great!) before proceeding to execute the twelve. The Washington Post also reports the assailants shouting “We killed Charlie Hebdo!” during the massacre. This was captured on video and reported on French television.
In his statement, Azmin added that Islam does not condone violence and terrorism, reiterating Pakatan Rakyat’s call to reject all forms of violence and fanaticism.
DAP Assistant National Publicity Secretary Zairil Khir Johari also condemned the actions of the militants in a strongly worded statement.
“There is no doubt that the perpetrators of these inhumane killings must be met with the full force of justice and the law.”
He said that though the satire published by Charlie Hebdo may sometimes be questionable, it did not justify extremism and murder.
“Such an act of barbarity goes against not only the universal values of humanity, but also the fundamental values of Islam as a religion of peace.”
“We (DAP) stand in solidarity with the French people during this terrible time. Our sincerest thoughts and condolences go out to the victims, friends and families of this atrocious crime,” added Zairil.
– The Rocket
