Je suis humain, I am human

The freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights in most democracies. I say most, because there are many countries, including one first world nation, that places major restrictions, some written, some unwritten, on such freedom.

As a journalist, I believe there should be no restrictions whatsoever, but as a practical human being, I do hope instead that everyone’s ultimate pursuit should be love, peace, justice and fairness for the good of community, country and the world.

I was working, closely following and updating the news, as the tragic event in Paris unfolded on Thursday.

I was hoping it would not be related to a terror attack and maybe it was just a deranged reader or former staff. These are the usual suspects.

I was already familiar with Charlie Hebdo (easy to recall, it being a strange name for a magazine) since the Prophet Muhammad cartoons and the firebombing incident from a few years ago. To think that all the death threats became a reality was discomforting.

The tragic loss to the culture of a nation and the art of satirical cartoons, is immeasurable, let alone to the families of the deceased, but the greater loss is to humanity.

Let’s face it, conflict and terror only begets more conflict and terror. It’s a vicious cycle.

It is an act of terrorism, but more importantly, it is cold-blooded murder. The victims are not nameless and unknown like the innocent thousands who have died under similar acts of murder in the Middle East at the hands of Western forces and militant groups, but that does not make it any more or less heinous.

So, it is rightly condemned. But instead of focusing on the cartoonists and the editor of Charlie Hebdo, I would rather pay tribute to the two policemen, who carried out their duty and paid the ultimate sacrifice. That one of them is Muslim only adds to the tragedy because it shows there is no “them” and “us” in all this conflict. Everyone is a victim, regardless of ethnicity or religion.

Also, the gunmen are no more Muslim than Anders Breivik of Norway was a Christian.

In case you have forgotten, Breivik was the man who first killed eight people with a bomb blast at a building in the capital city Oslo, before proceeding to an island where a youth retreat was being held and killing another 61 people, mostly youths.

Internet postings attributed to Breivik showed that he blamed the “destruction of Europe’s Christian heritage on the mass immigration of Muslims”, and he had conservative Christian material in his house.

But most news outlets just called him a mentally-disturbed man, with little or no mention of his religion nor that he had implicated other right-wing Christian groups in some way, which was obviously denied by the groups in the aftermath of the massacre.

Going back to what I said at the start, the freedom of expression, France is very proud in holding on to this right. They have gone through a lot with their famous revolution, the first people power the world came to know, and are now a mature democracy.

But what is their history in the lands that they once ruled? What was allowed, what was frowned upon? Was there freedom of expression in these colonies? Perhaps you can find this out for yourselves.

There is no excuse for the murder of the Charlie Hebdo staff, but was the cause of it all necessary? Be it the cartoons mocking Jesus, Mother Mary, Judaism or Prophet Muhammad or any religion for that matter.

I love satirical cartoons on politicians and celebrities simply because these are about people who have made themselves public figures and are subject to be scrutinised.

But satire for the sake of shocking and “just because we can” must be done with some responsibility.

I give you the example of the missing flight MH370. There was much uproar here and maybe in China too, over some people from western countries who dressed themselves up as flight crew and passengers, and even the plane with MH370 marking, for Halloween last year. That was seven months after the tragedy.

I read on Facebook how some people were cursing and wishing the worst on these disrespectful people.

But why not apply the same “freedom of expression” in such a case? These party-goers were just having some fun after all. How would we feel if that too was poked fun at in the magazine?

Is disrespect for the dead/tragedy a greater “crime” than disrespect for the tenets of a religion followed by more than a billion people?

I am simply asking this question to help us all understand “freedom of expression” more clearly.

This is in no way comparing the angry reaction to the Halloween costumes with murders committed by the gunmen in Paris. So, don’t go directing your vitriol at me now, please.

There is simply no comparison. Murder is to be condemned no matter what the reason or who does it.

This leads me to Christian groups who supported or sympathised with individuals who blew up abortion clinics or killed medical staff at such facilities some years ago in the United States.

The “freedom” for a woman to do what she chooses and the medical staff for assisting was also being infringed upon.

I have been a Catholic for 20 years now. At the time, I was new to the faith, and I was rather conflicted over how the faith can have such sick-minded followers who claim to be against the killing of the unborn, but at the same time, do what they are against, in killing another human being.

I asked a priest this question, and he said that some people look at it as if “being in a war against those who are challenging the key tenets of the faith”.

It opened my eyes, but also helped me to learn to see things from both sides. Again, there is simply no excuse for the murders committed in Paris.

As a Catholic Christian I will hold fast to my pro-Life view, but at the same time, I will not deny the pro-Choice lobby their rights. I can only let go and let God.

Moving on, one great irony to come out of  this tragedy is the so-called messages of condemnation from world leaders, including our own Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the killings.

Stop trying to fool us, Datuk Seri. You (and some people say your wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor too, . . . not me, but some people) had pushed for the police to come down hard on popular local satirical cartoonist Zunar.

Of course, that is not murder, but to harass with intent to jail someone for drawing caricatures of you and your wife shows such blatant hypocrisy in the statements issued yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the Foreign Ministry.

Incidentally, that first-world country I mentioned at the start, which shows its hypocrisy in condemning the attacks, but would not hesitate to incarcerate its journalists for the slightest indiscretion is our neighbour down south.

So, tell me, are there different brands of “freedom of expression”, and we pick and choose what suits our views and beliefs.

Or should the world strive for a universal “freedom of expression” where anyone can say, do, write, draw anything they want, that is not a legislated crime, and everyone has to accept it without even a hint of complaint.

That would be ideal, but we are only human. – January 11, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.