It may be understandable that a movie made by a private citizen aroused the fury of a host of Muslims as it was thought scurrilous. Films attacking Islam, especially from the US, should be avoided in the current tense atmosphere in the Islamic world. But there is no reason why mobs in Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt and Yemen should train their guns on US embassies in those countries. In Libya anger rose to such a pitch that the American ambassador was killed there. Of course, many of the protestors are also being killed in the spreading agitation. Expression of such deadly anger over a film almost wipes out the legacy of the Arab Spring. The movement which convulsed West Asia and Northern Africa in defence of freedom for citizens appears to be petering out. If there is cause for protest, it can be ventilated in a non-violent manner. Mahatma Gandhi had shown the enormous power of passive, peaceful resistance.
Protestors could have indeed put extreme right wing Islamic fundamentalists at a distance. America stands for freedom of expression and is not chary of condemning its own political and religious institutions in all kinds of media. An individual in that country producing an objectionable film may not fall in that category. But that should not lead to destruction of diplomatic property and attack on diplomatic personnel. The enlightened world in such a situation will not take even legitimate indignation seriously. Protest melts away in tear-gas. One is reminded of Ayatollah Khomeni’s diktat asking for the head of Salmon Rushdie for writing a novel which may have been blasphemous. The leaders of the Arab world should know that freedom is more than a word.
