by Brian Montopoli
Do some mediocre soft journalism in America, and the worst you have to worry about is a takedown of your work in a highbrow online magazine. Do the same in Pakistan, and you could be facing a fatwa.
Reporters Without Borders brings word of the fatwa issued against English-language fashion magazine Octane after the magazine ran a series of pictures with the caption "Adam and Eve, the bone of contention."
Said religious leader Maulana Abdul Aziz: “The managers of this magazine deserve to die…[for] blasphemy towards the Hazrat (prophet) Adam.” And that's just the start of editor Zubair Kasuri's problems:
Police in Islamabad have also laid a “blasphemy” complaint against the magazine. "We are reporting them to higher authorities so that all copies of the magazines can be seized, the magazine closed and the staff convicted,” said Abdul Jabbar, an officer at the police station in Margala. An Islamabad resident, Syed Aftab Ahmed, is also bringing a case for “publishing obscenity.”
Public Eye heartily endorses Reporters Without Borders' (somewhat understated) reaction to this absurdity: “The headline for the series of photos may not to be everyone’s taste, it is true. But there is no possible justification for such radical steps to express disapproval of certain media practices.”
Editor Kasuri is backing down, offering apologies and saying he did not mean to be disrespectful to Islam. Given that his life is at risk, that's an understandable move. But it's important for media outlets -- particularly those in purported democracies -- to stand up for their right to print materials that some might find offensive.
In this case, with the images in question in a fashion magazine, one might argue that the offense was needless, and thus should have been avoided. But the principle is the issue here, and its importance should not be understated: As we saw with the coverage of the Danish cartoon controversy, media outlets can be intimidated into withholding legitimate information by those who don't like what they have to say. And that's something that needs to be fought, from the fashion magazines on up.
Pertinent Links:
1) A Fashion Fatwa
No comments:
Post a Comment