M. Sakeem
Words are very powerful. If used positively, they have the propensity to unite east and west Germany; however, it used roguishly they can wreak havoc in Iraq, Afghanistan and push India and Pakistan on the brink of nuclear war.
Hence, in principal one has to be very careful with the words they use either it is a state, group or individual.
But unfortunately, recent years have given rise to dangerous speech trends targeting certain races, ethnicities, religious, faiths and states which in turn shattered the culture of peace and harmony throughout the world.
One such trend is freedom of expression as a basic human right. The developed West, being the inventor and promoter of such trends, has been using it as a shield to safeguard it interests while continue to victimize developing countries.
Among European countries, Germany chose to become a leading voice against so-called curbs on freedom of expression in countries of interest including Pakistan, Afghanistan and China.
In doing so, German media has been instrumental in highlighting and glorifying every petty story or event taken place in any of the states especially Pakistan.
Unbridled German media for example Der Spiegel and Deutsche Welle (DW) are among few that have been on the fore front in pursuance of this agenda of freedom against other countries.
According to Human Rights Watch Report 2021, following have been reported in Germany:-
Nine people were killed in Feb 2020 in a racist attack.
Racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism, including violent hate crimes, remained a concern. 463 anti-Islamic offenses and 469 antiseptic crimes were reported. 33 attacks targeted mosques and no one has been convicted.
Vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers, asylum seekers, and homeless people were disproportionately affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
1620 attacks on refugees and 128 attacks on refugee camps in 2019 were recorded.
In Feb 2020, a German far-right gunman killed 9 people from ethnic minority groups. The trail is still ongoing.
Freedom of expression in Germany has its own limitations for instance National Socialism is constitutionally ban in Germany as it does not go along well with the state interest. Why this prejudice?
A country like Germany must act as per its tall stature among the comity of nations by advocating that the right of freedom of expression should apply to all regardless of religion and country.
If it is banned or legal and punishable offense to talk about Holocaust or display of Swastika and trivializing of Nazi atrocities, notwithstanding that they cover crimes by communists in Hungary, Poland or Czech Republic , then other state-governments must also be respected for preserving their national security and integrity as per their own laws.
If Semitism has become honorable in the West than other faiths especially Islam must equally be honored.
The Western media must stop reaping profits out of the harvest of hatred they have sown among western masses by the name of “Islamophobia”.
Highlights the need to regulate frenzied German media which is blindly building on its image on the stories of self-exiled abandoned reporters / journalists / activists.