Ball in Denmark's court

THE angry protests over the Prophet's inflammatory caricatures continue to rage around the world. From Maghreb to the Far East, from one end of the Muslim world to the other, people continue to pour out on the streets in spontaneous demonstrations of their pain and anguish over the outrage that emanated from Denmark. Nearly a dozen people have died in Afghanistan in the protests. Western missions in some countries too have drawn the protesters' ire. Apparently, passions are running high.

Published: Fri 10 Feb 2006, 10:21 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 5:06 PM

The appeals by the leaders of the OIC, UN and European Union calling for restraint and calm therefore are timely and necessary. However, if this issue has transformed itself into a huge crisis and a veritable clash of civilizations, Denmark and its myopic leadership are to blame.

This is what this newspaper had warned against when the episode of disturbing caricatures of the Prophet first came to light. By stubbornly refusing to apologise to the world's 1.3 billion anguished Muslims and mindlessly defending the intolerably insensitive newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, the Denmark leadership allowed this issue to grow into a disturbing showdown between the West and Muslim world. Surely a swift response from Denmark would have nipped this issue in the bud and would have saved all those precious lives.

In this connection, the responsible manner in which countries such as France, Russia and Canada have conducted themselves deserves praise. President Jacques Chirac of France has warned French media of tough action if it added fuel to the fire by reproducing those caricatures. President Putin of Russia and Canada's new Conservative leadership have expressed their displeasure over the cartoons asking Denmark to offer an unconditional apology to the Muslims.

On the other hand, UAE leaders Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Spain's Jose Luis Zapatero have all called for reason and civilised dialogue between the Muslim world and the West.

This is how true leaders respond to challenges and crises. They offer leadership and guidance to their people, not add to a crisis. Which is what Denmark's leaders did when they refused to respond to the outrage against a revered faith and its noble Prophet.

This newspaper has always stood for peace, reason, moderation, tolerance and dialogue between the Muslim world and the West. Of course, all of us need to exercise caution and remain calm. However, this ever-growing crisis is not likely to resolve itself as long as Denmark does not act to address the Muslim anguish. Europe has long been a beacon of tolerance and hope to the rest of the world. Now it needs to show the world that it also respects religious sensitivities and beliefs of others. Only Denmark can end this row.