British Muslims protest Charlie Hebdo offensive cartoons
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LONDON: Thousands of British Muslims protested against blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in a demonstration near the office of Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday.
The crowd marched to Downing Street holding signs reading “Charlie and the abuse factory”, “we love Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) more than our lives”, and “to insult is not freedom”.
Speakers addressed the protest and held communal prayers, before representatives delivered a petition signed by over 100,000 British Muslims to Cameron's office.
The petition describes cartoons of Muhammad (PBUH) as “an affront to the norms of civilised society”.
After a deadly militant attack on Charlie Hebdo's offices in Paris in January, Londoners had queued to buy the following memorial issue which featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on its front cover.
However, most British media did not re-publish the cartoons, which are offensive to Muslims as depictions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are forbidden.
“The peace-loving majority of people must become vociferous in promoting global civility and responsible debate,” said Shaykh Tauqir Ishaq, a spokesman for the Muslim Action Forum that organised the protest.
“At this time of heightened tension and emotion, it is crucial that both sides show restraint to prevent further incidents of this nature occurring.”
A smaller rival demonstration of far-right protesters gathered on the opposite side of the street near the prime minister's office, waving Union Jack flags and holding a banner reading “Britain First: take our country back”.
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On DawnNews
Comments (32) Closed
Feb 09, 2015 02:25pm
If you believe in your faith, no matter how much the world mocks, either stay home or protest peacefully, as Hindus have always did, without violence.
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Feb 09, 2015 02:26pm
The western countries many media people always jeers ,insults the culture of other religions , gods and even great personalities of eastern countries like Gandhi . They are lack of sacrament which may influenced by westernized convent education , crime and dirty movies . Though the killing of cartoonists is highly condemn able can these media people change their attitude towards other religion ?
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Feb 09, 2015 02:27pm
They should be PROTESTING in Paris, not London. Even so a few Cartoons do not require a Death Sentence for the artists. Lucky they live in a FREE country that allows them to clutter our streets.
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Feb 09, 2015 02:57pm
I think some Muslims have not understood Islam. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was the last one to pick up the sword and he was very patient and loving even towards those who insulted him. If I as a non-Muslim have understood this much, what is wrong with those Muslims who support killers?
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Feb 09, 2015 03:07pm
@Gaurav Arya I don't think you understand that muslims love their prophet . It was a peaceful demo, there were no swords on display, so get real please. .
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Feb 09, 2015 03:13pm
Living in uk has become tough for muslims
Testing times....
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Feb 09, 2015 03:21pm
Useless people being brought to London from other towns by their Pirs in a show of strength. In the UK media their antics were viewed very badly. No more than 1000 came and they were viewed as fools who do not understand freedom of speech a value cherished in the UK. The Pirs in their own quest for fame and gain are using these simpletons and harming them.
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Feb 09, 2015 04:46pm
If you love humanity then you are loving Allah or God ! Its as simple as is.
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Feb 09, 2015 04:52pm
The best thing is to ignore this whole thing and not give magz like Charlie any media time. On the same note, third class small magz like Charlie have a business model based on provocation and insults, and as a whole is riding on the anti-Muslim wave in the West. Charlie is not about freedom of speach, had it been the case then they would not have fired people who portrayed Sarkozy's son as a man who converted to Jewdism for money. Double standard.
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Feb 09, 2015 04:59pm
If any body does not like the living style of host country, they may return to the country of their origin.
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Feb 09, 2015 04:59pm
@zafar why do they need to demonstrate? Freedom of expression provides a much needed measure of human understanding perception. Using the knowledge you can begin to educate.
But in our country and culture we abhor any expressive comment that is less than grand even for ourselves. We have the mindset that we are the very best.
At schools students are routinely punished when they question the teachers ideas. At home parents are no less. We take pride in being followers of the Prophet (SAW), and yet we follow none of his social attributes of forgiveness, forbearance, fostering, and forthrightness.
We the imposters posing as followers are so enraged at others that we are willing to slay just to maintain our image.
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Feb 09, 2015 05:13pm
@Gaurav Arya and how exactly do you know that ? dude don't bend too much to appease them . why did they not march when the journalist were murdered , i did not see that much passion in muslims to protest the killing as much as i see now . who do you think has harmed islam more ,the journalist who drew some cartoons ( and i support them ) or the terrorist who killed them ?
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Feb 09, 2015 05:14pm
Why do we need religion?
It teaches us tolerance, patience, love towards all beings and nature and most importantly it makes us a better human being who has no feelings of hatred, jealousy and revenge. Religion is just a philosophy to live righteous life.
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Feb 09, 2015 05:25pm
That was a peaceful protest and point was made. Well done.
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Feb 09, 2015 05:34pm
@Gaurav Arya This is a peaceful demo. They are not supporting the killers but denouncing the cartoonists and RIGHTLY so. They, and we, have every right to protest. Respect is the cornerstone of every civilized society.
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Feb 09, 2015 05:37pm
Freedom of expression should not be to disrespect or insult others in the name of free society.
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Feb 09, 2015 05:59pm
@zafar Agree with your comments
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Feb 09, 2015 06:05pm
@Free Thinker Those protesting are equal citizens of that country. Nobody (including a free thinker) have the right to send them back.
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Feb 09, 2015 06:08pm
@Gaurav Arya And how do you think that your thinking is the correct one? The report is about a peaceful protest.
If tomorrow somebody in those so called free speech advocate countries ridicules and insults somebody's mother, will you say the same?
Infact, in the West their country law is their religion.....
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Feb 09, 2015 06:15pm
It would be nice to see Muslims protest ISIS, Taliban, and all these other extremist groups that forment hate. Maybe these protesting Muslims should protest how their religion has become equated with suicide bombings, murder, rape, mistreatment of women, etc...
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Feb 09, 2015 06:17pm
@Jatt Atleast they demonstrated their dislike. If all those protesting were useless then you (being useful) should have done something about it instead of criticizing.......
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Feb 09, 2015 06:24pm
These people are Pakistani migrants, not genuine Brits.
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Feb 09, 2015 06:43pm
Majority of muslims say ISIS is not following the real islamic principles. So why are the muslims not demonstrating against the Islamic State who uses Islam in their state name and conducting atrocities in the name of islam?
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Feb 09, 2015 06:45pm
Any human life is more important than religion ,country and personal sentiments.
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Feb 09, 2015 06:46pm
@Haaris its gotten testy because Muslims don't want to assimilate into a country that they immigrated to. You can't change the laws of a country you immigrate to, especially when those laws clash with the countries long established laws.
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Feb 09, 2015 08:21pm
they get truth.
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Feb 09, 2015 09:48pm
Muslims in Britain never seem to be comfortable happy with others and tend to blame the 19th century British Empire for attitudes there.
The French have a proverb: "Where God has planted you, that is where you must bloom."
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Feb 10, 2015 12:07am
@Sumayya Respect must be earned. You will gain respect when you open your mind and demonstrate that you are strong enough to withstand criticism, or questions concerning the different perceptions of your faith.
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Feb 10, 2015 01:19am
@Sumayya I think the point was that they should have denounced the murders too. Which being a Muslim, I think is a fair point. I wasn't at the demonstration myself, however from the media reports I saw, it was predominantly for the cartoons only, whereas it would have served our community better if we demonstrated against the cartoons and the killing of innocent people by terrorists.
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Feb 10, 2015 01:23am
@Imran they have right to express their views
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Feb 10, 2015 01:24am
@Jatt Again, I have to agree. This demonstration was portrayed really badly for the muslim community and has probably not served it's purpose in any sense. It should have been a protest to denounce both the killing of innocent people by terrorists and hurting the sentiments of the muslim community with the publishing of the cartoons. Stuff like this will make it harder for the average law-abiding muslim to live in the UK.
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Feb 10, 2015 06:33am
There's an easy way out of it. Come back to your original countries.
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