After French President Emmanuel Macron announced a crackdown on radical Islam following terror attacks by Islamic terrorists over alleged blasphemy of displaying images of Muhammed, Muslims across the globe have launched a campaign against France, and Charlie Hebdo, which had published the cartoons. Pakistani PM Imran Khan and Turkey present Erdoğan have launched an attack on France, and today former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad even said that Muslims have the right to kill millions of French people for offending them.
Islamists in India has also jumped into this attack, and one of them is Zainab Sikander Siddiqui, a Columnist at Shekhar Gupta’s The Print. Referring the decision of Charlie Hebdo to reprint the cartoons of Muhammad which has enraged the radical Muslims across the world, Zainab claimed that the publication only targets Islam, and it does not dare to offend other religions. But while making that claim, she also said that of Charlie Hebdo also don’t have the guts to make fun of Holocaust or Jews.
This is one of the most bizarre arguments made by a radical Islamist, because she thinks that one can make fun of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the state organised murder of Jews by Nazi Germany, and it is not a religion of Jews that she seems to be mistaken. During the Holocaust, the Adolf Hitler led Germany had killed 6 million Jews, and around 11 million others including Soviets, Poles, Romas, Gays, political opponents and others suing gas chambers, firing squads and other methods, in concentration camps, extermination centres and other such organised places. It is not something that can be a subject of making fun.
The other claim of Zainab Sikander Siddiqui, that Charlie Hebdo does not mock Jews, Chirstians or the LGBTQ is completely wrong, and she spread a lie by claiming that the French satirical magazine publishes cartoons only on Islam. In fact, the magazine has published the maximum number of cartoons mocking Christianity and Christian preachers, including the Pope. Their cartoons offended Christians also, but no Christian has even shot or beheaded anyone for them. Offended Christians did take action against Charlie Hebdo, by filing lawsuits against them, but they didn’t resort to violence.
After Zainab posted the tweet, Twitter users flooded her mentions with cartoons on Christians, Jews and Gays, proving her wrong. What’s more, the magazine had even used the Holocaust in some of its cartoons.
What’s more, the magazine had even used the Holocaust in some of its cartoons. In one such cartoon in 2011, they had equated the Holocaust with the Israeli treatment of Palestinees.
But even after so many proofs that she was wrong, the columnist remained defiant, claiming that the cartoons depicting other religions are not offensive. She took the role of judge to determine what is offensive and what is not, and ruled that cartoons mocking Christian and Jew religious leaders are not offensive.
She claimed that those cartoons only mock religious leaders, and even Muslims mock their clerics, therefore they are not offensive. Another blatant lie, because many cartoons posted in her replies depicted the Jesus Christ, Mother Marry and other such figures. She conveniently ignored those replies, and kept on arguing that Charlie Hebdo does not mock other religions.