THE adoption of a resolution on Wednesday at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva condemning religious hatred is a victory for all those who believe in tolerance and mutual respect. Pakistan was instrumental in introducing and mustering support for the motion, which was backed by 28 states out of 47 members of the council. The resolution calls upon the UN to publish a report on religiously motivated hatred, and for states to review laws so that lacunae that “impede the prevention and prosecution of acts and advocacy of religious hatred” can be addressed. What is welcome is that many non-Muslim states supported the move, including China, Ukraine, various Latin American and African states and, surprisingly, India. Unfortunately, the Western bloc — Europe and the US — tried their best to block the resolution, trotting out the familiar excuse of free speech to justify their opposition. But as one observer in Geneva commented, the West is “losing the argument”. More likely, the West lost the plot a long time ago, as perhaps Western leaders do not realise, or choose not to realise, how deeply disrespectful provocative acts like attacking the Quran or Islam’s sacred personalities are to the world’s Muslims. While many non-Muslim states in the Global South appreciate the effort to outlaw religious hatred, the Western bloc stubbornly clings to academic, debatable notions of free speech to protect those who demonise Islam, and in fact lay the groundwork for violence against Muslims. To put things in perspective, just as questioning the Holocaust is a crime in many European societies, similarly, Islam’s sacred symbols are a red line in Muslim societies.

Sadly, many European societies do not appear to have moved on from their centuries-old prejudices when it comes to demonising Islam and Judaism. The Holocaust was the most egregious recent example of racial and religious hatred perpetrated by a European state. But go back in the mists of time and the horrors following the Spanish Reconquista — in which Muslims and Jews were forcibly converted and later expelled from the Iberian Peninsula — tell a tale of extreme intolerance. Do these vile prejudices live on in today’s West, camouflaged by the need to protect free speech? This is a question the West must answer, and prove its commitment to respecting other cultures by disallowing attacks on the symbols held sacred by billions.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2023