Where art thou Rushdie?

History repeats itself... in a few ways

It is interesting how against a backdrop of rage over the recent cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed has sent the European Union scrambling to change media codes across Europe. The entire situation seems actually less shocking in terms of the protest and violence it ignited... if not familiar.

Citing further back to 1989, a book titled "The Satanic Verses" hit the world with its depictions of the Prophet Mohammed creating a stir amongst the global Islamic community. The 'stir' sent Salman Rushdie underground with a fatwa (religious call) issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran calling for Rushdie's death.

Nevertheless, the secular nation of India banned the book in effort to quell the rising Muslim protests. It is interesting to note the Islamic population of India is roughly about 220.72 million in comparison to all of Europe which is about 50.90 million.

I hardly think that the reaction is at all "shocking" to the level of violence and protests. If anything it is surprising that the Danish Newspaper didn't see this coming. When Rushdie published "The Satanic Verses", a Japanese and Italian translators of the book were stabbed, the Norwegian publisher of the book was killed, bookstores that carried the book at the University of California-Berkeley were firebombed, 5 individuals were shot outside the British embassy in Mumbai India....

Familiar imagery?

I don't condone the freedom of expression at all, otherwise this blog wouldn't even be written. But for the world to react in surprise and shock to the violence that erupted over "just a cartoon" should hardly be a surprise with similar history in the past.

A cartoon can actually be the simplest and most powerful form of communication. Take for example "The Satanic Verses" - as a form of propaganda, it is complex - a thick book full of imagery hidden by masses of word. It hardly is effective at spreading its message with the size and certain amount of thought needed to extrapolate the message.

A cartoon is by far more simple - a simple image is worth a thousand words. The image is very simple and understandable thus also making it very dangerous. The simplicity of the imagery makes it malleable and easily interpreted by the most fundamentalistic of Islamic societies. Plus the result of the wide-spread violence maybe because our world is now more interconnected... information reaches people faster, people have access to information over a thousand miles away. Internet, cellular phones, etc. In Rushdie's time it was just in the beginning of the 90's, with a more localized reaction stemming primarily in Iran and India (his homeland). But since this world that is more interconnected, word travels fast across the globe... and so will the reaction, like wildfire, will just continue at a rapid pace.

Surprising...? maybe. Inevitable?... yep