New Delhi: A video from a Chinese TV show depicting Prophet Muhammad with Asian features has gone viral on social media, with many netizens asking if the Muslim world will now boycott Chinese goods.
The comments come in light of the recent call for a ban on French products after President Emmanuel Macron defended the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet.
Macron’s comments came in the wake of recent violent incidents in France, including the beheading of a French teacher, Samuel Paty, by a teenager for showing cartoons of the Prophet to his students.
Arslan Hidayat, an Uyghur rights activist, shared the clip of the state-run China Central Television’s (CCTV) show on Twitter and said it depicts the scene of an Arab ambassador gifting a portrait of Prophet Muhammad to the Chinese emperor during the rule of the Tang dynasty.
Image of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on a TV series on a #Chinese state-run TV channel #CCTV.
Context: an ambassador from an Arab nation gifts a portrait of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to the emperor during the Tang Dynasty.
Can we now boycott #Chinese goods? pic.twitter.com/gcMj1cQ1xN
— Arslan Hidayat.ئارسلان ھىدايەت (@arslan_hidayat) October 27, 2020
Besides asking for a boycott of Chinese goods, users also questioned Pakistan’s silence over the controversial picture.
Awaiting marches and boycotting chinese goods.. #IslamoPhobia #islam #boycottfrenchproduct #france #Islamophobia #boycottfrance #turkey https://t.co/tUNEZwXFWC
— Wendigo (@Wendigo1982) October 28, 2020
Baap bara na bhaiya sab se badha rupiya. Pseudo 'Fortress of Islam" Pak dare not say anything to China.
The US & Saudi Arabia aid stopped.
Pak the compulsive beggar won't survive without dole.
Anti Islamic activity of China is overlooked.
Beggar are not choosers
DOLLARS matter. https://t.co/r87F42AlCW— Rakesh Bhatia (@rakeshkbhatia) October 27, 2020
Many media houses also spoke about the video, hitting out at the Muslim world for its selective outrage toward France.
चीन के एक सरकारी टीवी चैनल ने दिखायी इस्लाम के पैगंबर की तस्वीर। चीन की इस भड़काऊ हरकत की क्यों नही हो रही है खिलाफत? क्यों हैं पाकिस्तान, तुर्की और मलेशिया जैसे देश चुप?#China #ProphetMuhammad pic.twitter.com/8WfmUMRIju
— NEWJ (@NEWJplus) November 2, 2020
Deepak Chaurasia, consulting editor of New Nation, said, “The Chinese government channel recently broadcast the caricature of Prophet Muhammad. Will the Muslim world not appeal for boycott of Chinese goods when the caricature of Prophet Muhammad is shown?”
चीन के सरकारी चैनल ने हाल ही में पैगंबर मोहम्मद का कैरिकेचर प्रसारित किया है। क्या मुस्लिम दुनिया अब पैगंबर मोहम्मद के कैरिकेचर दिखाए जाने पर चीनी वस्तुओं के बहिष्कार की अपील नहीं करेगी.
— Deepak Chaurasia (@DChaurasia2312) November 3, 2020
Chaurasia also spoke about the oppression of the Uyghur Muslims in China.
“The oppression of Uyghur Muslims in China is not hidden from anyone. The caricature of Prophet Muhammad is now being shown on Chinese TV. But along with Muslim countries around the world, India’s liberals and the Left are silent, they are scared,” he said in another tweet.
चीन में उईगर मुसलमानों का जो दमन हो रहा है वो किसी से छिपा नहीं है। अब चीन के टीवी पर पैगंबर मोहम्मद का कैरिकेचर दिखाया जा रहा है। पर दुनिया भर के मुस्लिम देशों के साथ साथ भारत के लिबरल और वामपंथी ख़ामोश है, डर लगता है ना। #China_is_terrorist pic.twitter.com/SQvbeCQing
— Deepak Chaurasia (@DChaurasia2312) November 3, 2020
Fact check
The viral video clip is from a CCTV show called The Glorious Times of the Tang Dynasty. However, the show aired more than a decade ago and was not recently broadcast as claimed by many, including News Nation’s consulting editor Chaurasia.
A French blog titled ‘The portrait of the Prophet Muhammad in the Chinese kingdom’, published on 26 December 2008, talks about how Uyghur Muslims had criticised the show.
“And, when we open the portrait, covered by a golden fabric, we see the ‘photo of the prophet’! Funny photo besides: obviously the Chinese imagine that the prophet looks like Asians !!!,” the blog read.
(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)
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