Unbridled Freedom of Expression Flares Violence

Freedom of speech is mandatory to develop mental faculties but there must be certain limitations in liberty of loquaciousness to control unbridled verbal diarrhea. Freedom of expression is the soul and spirit of democracy. But contexts and contents of speech are more important than meaningless discourse. It is the stuff and circumstances of speech that demand certain restrictions must be practiced to avert untoward incidents in order to struggle for establishment of lasting global peace in the world. In the European countries the voice of the people was so suppressed during the Dark Ages that hindered development of intellectual capabilities. Well-recognized scholars faced atrocities perpetrated by the Church clergy. Men of letters were considered adversaries of the seminaries. After the American Revolution of 1975 and the French Revolution of 1989 the western people demanded freedom of speech to safeguard their most cherished fundamental right. But, with the passage of time some irresponsible people abused this mental faculty to insult sentiments of other people.

The religion was considered by the West a major stumbling block for mental progress oh human beings. The spiritual grooming of human beings to make him fruitful member of the society was thrown to the background. They considered religion a root cause of wars and conflicts. They started insulting its teachings. Karl Marx (1818-1883), German philosopher said in “Critique of the Hegelian Philosophy of Right” (1844). “Religion is the soul of soulless conditions, the heart of a heartless world, the opium of the people.”1 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher and poet said in The Gay Science (1882),“God is dead: but considering the state the species Man is in, there will perhaps be caves, for ages yet, in which his shadow will be shown.”2

The western secular democratic system promoted hideous atheists and agnostics. The actions of these Godless people have promoted violence in the world. The blasphemous novel The Satanic Verses of the author Salman Rushdie insulted the sentiments of the Muslims. More than one hundred people have lost their lives during protests since the publication of this sacrilegious novel in 1988. Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989), Iranian religious leader issued Fatwa on February 14, 1989 announcing a death sentence against this apostate and hideous atheist subsequent to publication of this novel. According to Fatwa, “The author of the Satanic Verses book, which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran, and all those involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death. I ask all Moslems to execute them wherever they find them.”3