Petition to Stop Netherlands Cartoon Contest on Prophet Muhammad
The online petition addressed to the Parliament of the Netherlands aims to stop a cartoon contest on Prophet Muhammad.
By Rakesh Raman
An online petition is collecting signatures of people to get a planned cartoon contest on Prophet Muhammad stopped in Netherlands.
According to the petition, this contest promotes hate against a prophet who is followed by 2 billion Muslims across the world, and it is aimed at a man who is no longer in this world to defend himself.
A Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders has planned the contest to be held later this year. The contest will include an exhibition where caricatures of Prophet Mohammed will be displayed.
Earlier, Islamic terrorists had carried out an attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s artists who had lampooned Prophet Muhammad in their caricatures. Later, in a bold step the magazine again carried Muhammad’s cartoon on the cover of a subsequent publication.
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Charlie Hebdo (or Charlie Weekly), which is known for inviting controversies by publishing sensational content ridiculing different religions, was earlier attacked by Muslim extremists in 2011 when it carried a caricature of Prophet Muhammad.
It’s believed that since Islam prohibits idol worship, the religion doesn’t allow the depiction of Muhammad in any artificial form. That’s why terrorists belonging to an affiliate outfit of al-Qaeda had attacked the magazine’s office in Paris.
The current petition addressed to the Parliament of the Netherlands has collected over 140,000 signatures.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
