‘I stand with Charlie Hebdo,’ says Salman Rushide in strong message after Paris attack
'Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect'
Paris: Renowned author Salman expressed his support for the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, after gunmen attacked their Paris office and killed 12 people on Wednesday.
“Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.”
“I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity.”
“‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion’. Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.”
Read: Youngest suspect surrenders in Charlie Hebdo attack, police release photos of 2 others
In 1989, a fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Khomeini from Iran over his book 'Satanic Verses,' which he said was blasphemous.
Meanwhile, cartoonists around the world also reacted to the cold-bloodied assassination as only they can: with powerful drawings worth thousands of words.
Read: Worth 1,000 words: Cartoonists draw for colleagues killed in Paris shooting
Defiant, angry, poignant, irreverent and sobering, their drawings united cartoonists in grief, tried to make sense of the nonsensical, and sent a shared message: We must not, will not and should not be silenced. Some drawings touched such a nerve they made one want to both laugh and cry.