You know what's really strange? This is what happens every single time. Someone, somewhere in the world gets a bright idea - some new fangled way to piss off some of the most violent, vindictive people in the world. And like a well rehearsed card trick, it just works.
Whether its a cartoon or an amateurish video on YT, it's good enough to set us off. First, a group of protestors somewhere will go a little wild and the issue will become newsworthy. Then, the more enlightened amongst us become armchair activists and take up the issue on Facebook and Twitter as if all the world's problems are solved on these forums, not in the UN or anything.
And finally, flag bearing, stone toting protestors take to the streets in Pakistan, breaking shop windows, burnings banks and petrol stations, even police vehicles. All in the name of avenging blasphemy.
I have, of course, a couple of points I'd like to make here.
First, is blasphemy a bigger sin than murder? Because I sure as hell don't see people gathering in crowds of thousands, protesting the killing that grace the streets of Karachi everyday. And if it's ok for someone to get away with murder without so much as a stone thrown or a bank burnt, then what's a little blasphemy?
That's the minor point. The bigger one is this: is our religion and faith really so brittle that it's ready to snap at the slightest mention of "gustakhi" against the Holy Prophet or the Quran? Is it really? Before someone declares a fatwa against me, let me set the record straight: I am not suggesting that acts of blasphemy should be totally ignored (although this would be super effective, see next para for details). I am simply suggesting that (1) there is a way to record your protest and (2) there are bigger issues currently at hand.
You know what they say about kids: if they're doing something to get your attention (something unpleasant, naturally), just ignore them and they'll stop. If you reprimand them or react, there's a chance they'll keep doing it. It's the age-old school yard principle. If someone is calling you names, either go punch their lights out or ignore them. If you keep reacting or crying, they'll keep doing it all the more. But this is precisely the kind of idea that's going to get me killed if I keep going on about it.
By the way - how many people have actually seen the video anyway? I saw it yesterday before YT got blocked in PK and I was quite surprised to find that this "movie" is, at best, a very amateurish attempt at putting together a video. I'm not exaggerating - you have people walking around in broad daylight without shadows (filmed on a green screen and placed on a static desert backdrop). The actors lines have been recorded over and the resulting lip-sync looks like a Spanish drama that's been translated to Urdu via Italian. I kid you not. The video is 13 minutes long, and claims to be trailer of the real movie. However, there is no mention of a production house, actors' names, director's name or release date, all of which you'd expect in a trailer. Personally, I am of the opinion that there is no movie. This is it - a 13 minute video designed to achieve exactly what it did achieve.
The sad part is, Muslims all over the world have given this video a lot more importance than it ever deserved. The production values of the song Waderay ka Beta were of epic proportions, compared to this. In fact, there was a great video on YT once upon a time, called Charlie bit my Finger. And that was better made than this. The "Innocence of Muslims" has revealed just that - the innocence of an uneducated mass of people who have committed the grievous sin of abandoning their own judgement and have chosen to blindly follow a mob. And this sin is what becomes the fine line between innocence and stupidity.
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