Unofficial
English translation of the statement by the Hon'ble
Foreign Minister, Mr. M. Morshed Khan, MP, at the
Jatiya Sangsad on
February 05, 2006
Mr.
Speaker,
At the outset please allow me to convey to you, and
through you to this great House, the anger and outrage
that has been created by the publishing of the cartoon
by a Danish newspaper. The Government and people of
Bangladesh have condemned this in the strongest possible
terms. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a strong
protest with the Danish Government through the Danish
Embassy in Dhaka as early as 7th November 2005 when
the matter of the horrendous act of publishing an
obnoxious cartoon of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (SM)
by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten was brought
to our notice.
The
Government protested to the Danish Government immediately
through a formal Note Verbale on 7th November 2005
that the cartoon was highly offensive and hurt the
sentiments of Muslims all over of the world including
the people of Bangladesh and that action on the part
of the Danish newspaper was motivated and provocative.
It further stated that the drawing was an outright
mockery of Islam and had caused insult to the deeply
held beliefs to one fifth of the world's humanity
and that it was designed to incite hatred and xenophobia.
Mr.
Speaker,
I
would like to further inform this august House that
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued instructions
to all its Missions abroad to lodge strong protest
with the host authorities wherever the drawings are
published. The Permanent Missions in New York and
Geneva have also been instructed to coordinate with
the OIC Group so that the issue is taken up very strongly
with the UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights.
You
will recall Mr. Speaker that the Hon'ble Prime Minister
in her statement at the OIC Summit In Makkah is December
last year had very strongly spoken out against Islamophobia
and called on the Islamic Ummah to resist this unitedly.
Mr.
Speaker,
It
is shameful that the publication of the cartoon has
been defended by some on the plea of freedom of expression.
What is truly tragic and frustrating is that some
of the leading newspapers of the western world have
decided to replicate the cartoon.
As
a democratic country, Bangladesh subscribes to freedom
of expression but we also strongly believe that this
freedom cannot be a license to incite hatred and intolerance
and humiliate people of another faith. I believe that
the western media should take a hard look at themselves
before sermonizing the rest of the world on the practice
of religious tolerance.
The media is a powerful tool used by politicians,
civil society, autocrats and democrats alike. The
implications of its reports and publications can therefore
be profound. The western media is fully aware that
any pictorial representation of the Holy Prophet is
strictly forbidden in Islam. By choosing to publish
the cartoon that had its origin in Denmark, it has
encouraged hatred against the Muslim community in
their own country and the world over and has provoked
inter faith unrest and animosity.
The
media mirrors the beliefs and attitudes of a society.
By publishing the cartoon, it has demonstrated a degree
of intolerance and disrespect that certain sections
of the western world have for the Muslims. As anger
of the Muslim world is mounting, it is for the Danish
Government to address this outrage.
Mr.
Speaker,
We
have asked the Danish Government to take necessary
preventive measures so that such despicable acts are
not repeated. We urge upon the Danish Government to
come up with an appropriate apology to redress the
insult and anguish that has been generated.
