Daily Times

A mentally sick person earned the curse of the Almighty by making a rag of a celluloid piece, of which he and his companions should be ashamed. It is said that even the actors did not know the intent and the objectionable pieces were dubbed in. One of the actresses of the film has filed a case. It is also said that the film maker made it on a shoestring budget on a few million financing — a crook, an immoral person all along. His name should be marked as a symbol of utter degradation and shame.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (born 1957) is an Egyptian-born US resident who is thought to be the writer, producer and promoter of Innocence of Muslims. He is a Coptic Christian with past criminal convictions and a history of using aliases. On July 2, 2012, a Sam Bacile, who was later identified as Nakoula, posted English-language promotional trailers for Innocence of Muslims on YouTube. After the trailers were dubbed into Arabic and posted on the Internet in September 2012, riots and protests erupted in many countries.

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for a large Christian church in Egypt and the Middle East. It may be noted that many churches call themselves ‘religions’ and should not be included in the general category of ‘Christians’.

Nakoula has been convicted several times and served jail terms. The script of this rag was said to have been written in jail and mostly shot in his house. He is now absconding and his house has been put on sale.

This is not the first time that a criminal has committed conscious blasphemy. Nor can it be assured that it is the last time. This raises the most important question of how should the ummah behave or react in such situations. Protests were held throughout the world, wherever Muslims inhabit and people with a fair sense of respect for each other’s beliefs. Let us look at how widespread it was. Here are some of the places:

Mombasa, Mauritius, Nigeria, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Sao Palo, Rio de Janeiro, Canada, United States, Brazil, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Australia, and a few others. These are 59 countries and innumerable cities and the extent of protest and expression of anger is wide. In Pakistan, many Christians took out protest rallies.

Here are some reports indicating the nature of action by the protestors, which is similar in most places except Pakistan.

“Several hundred Muslims, many waving banners and shouting execute people who mock Islam, rallied outside the US embassy and Google offices in Bangkok. The demonstration saw a brief scuffle as protesters tried to surge towards the US embassy, but police said it passed largely peacefully with no one seriously injured.”

“Thousands of angry Muslims have marched in Kolkata to protest an anti-Islam film produced in the United States. Police officer Rajashri Roy says the protesters chanted ‘Down with America’.”

“Demonstrations and violent protests against the film broke out on September 11 in Egypt and Libya, and spread to other Arab and Muslim nations and some western countries.”

“In Libya, the demonstration was infiltrated by extremists with pre-planning and resulted in damage and the killing of the US ambassador.”

Generally, the mobs showed their anger within a degree of discipline in the rest of the world, but Pakistanis made an exception of themselves. Here is the report of Daily Times of September 22, 2012:

“Angry and violent protests plunged the country into chaos on Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool (PBUH) on Friday as at least 25 people were killed and hundreds injured in addition to widespread damage to private and public property in nationwide protests against a blasphemous, anti-Islam film. Fuming protesters fought pitched battles with police and law enforcement agencies in Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and several other cities. At least 20 people, including three policemen, were killed and more than 130 injured as violent protests erupted in Karachi after Friday prayers. The angry mobs also set ablaze four cinema houses on MA Jinnah Road, six banks, four police mobiles, two armoured personnel carriers, two restaurants and various automobiles in different areas of the city. Reports said that people continued looting the banks and other establishments for several hours. Two fire brigades engines were also set ablaze. Thousands of people were part of the rallies, which headed towards the US consulate to lodge a protest against the blasphemous movie.

Demonstrations were held outside Memon Mosque in Bolton Market, Preedy Street, Banori Town and Golimar. Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan took out a rally from Regal Chowk; Jamiat-i-Ulema-e-Islam from Banori Town; Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen from Nomaish Chowrangi and Jamaat-e-Islami from Masjid-e-Rizwan in Federal B Area. The stone-pelting agitators smashed windowpanes of several vehicles and blocked Shahrah-e-Faisal for traffic by setting tyres on fire.

In Peshawar, five people, including an employee of a private TV channel, were killed as several hundred protesters set ablaze four cinemas and the city’s Chamber of Commerce, and damaged plazas, shops and vehicles.

Clashes between police and stone-throwing protesters also occurred in Islamabad. At least 55 people, including nine policemen, were injured in the unrest. The crowd included a 5,000 strong contingent of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Jamiat-ul-Islam and Sipah-e-Sahaba. Police clashed with demonstrators in several areas of the capital, including in front of a five-star hotel near the diplomatic enclave.

In Lahore, demonstrators gathered on major roads, including Circular Road and The Mall, and burnt tires, shouted anti-US slogans and demanded hanging of the film producer. Protest demonstrations were also held in Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Chakwal, Jhelum, Hyderabad and many other cities.”

The serious matter is that the extreme parties have singled themselves out as the most irresponsible. Damage in all cities was the handiwork of the motivators who wanted to prove their street power more than the protest against the film. These parties need to understand that their supporters have neither served the cause of Islam nor served their country by killing their own countrymen and damaging national assets.

The writer is a former DG Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Secretary Arts Council Alhamra, COO of ICTV US, Chairperson Fruit Processing Industries, Chairperson Export Promotion Committee, head of several business delegations to European countries, specialist in arts management and cultural diplomacy. He is an expert callishtenist, dramatist, researcher, and the author of 8,000 years of the People of Indus Valley. Presently, he is the Central Vice- President APML and General Secretary, Punjab APML