One Pakistan government minister has offered a bounty of $100,000 for the death of the American who made the controversial film about Mohammed.
Is this the correct move for a government to take?
Any other thoughts on this? How are relations between Pakistan and other nations?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19692971
Reacting as a government official in such a way is incredibly unprofessional and irrational, and as the article stated, "The president and secretary of state have both said the video at the core of this is offensive, disgusting, and reprehensible - but that is no justification for violence, and it is important for responsible leaders to stand up and speak out against violence." Being offended by the film is absolutely understandable, but having the man who made it killed is definitely an inappropriate mean of dealing with this issue. This situation should be handled maturely without the usage of any weapons and rather solved with words.
ReplyDeleteI happen to agree with Ren on this issue. I too agree that the video that was released was outrageous, ignorant and hurtful to those it affected but as afore stated, I don't believe violence is the way to handle a precarious or sensitive issue, doing so may in fact result in creating further problems, perhaps even set the stage for a war. The fact that this bounty was orchestrated by a government official is very contrary to what it is a government should represent: a stable, rational force to whom the people can look as exemplary in how to conduct their own behaviors. “Bilour's bounty offer followed a march by more than 5,000 protesters, including hundreds of women, towards the parliament in Islamabad on Saturday, chanting: "We love our Holy Prophet" and "Punishment for those who humiliated our Prophet". Once again, I feel much empathy towards these protestors and do understand where they are coming from: as a result, I do believe the person who made this video should be punished in some form; however I don’t believe violence and money should be seen by the world as a way to solve problems. Therefore, I do not agree that such a thing should have been issued.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Ren. I feel that for the Pakistan government to put out a bounty on the person who made the anti-Islam film is a very unprofessional, and immature way to handle this situation. Many Muslims are very angry about the video and have every right to be. However, many people have died including the U.S. ambassador of Libya(1), because of violence during protests over the film. Muhammad is the Holy Prophet of Islam, which also means he was a spiritual man of god. For the minister to put out a bounty on the person who made the film doesn't seem to be spiritual or godly-like does it? It makes their government look hypocritical and disloyal, knowing that their god who they believe in is mainly about peace. That is why I feel that there are different ways that the government could have dealt with this problem in a more professional and mature way. Another thing is it is one thing to protest with your people, but violence should never be apart of it. The people that were protesting didn't seem to be very professional either. They shouted " death to America, death to Israel and death to the enemies of Islam"(2). Although I mainly addressed the issue of the government being unprofessional; it was an immature move by the creator of the film. Even though he exercised his freedom of speech, he should have been aware of the consequences that he would have to deal with later. He knew that the Muslims would be angry about the film and because of that people have died due to his own stupidity(3). I don't think it was a smart move on neither the government or filmmaker for doing what they did.
(1)http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/world/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/24/pakistan-disowns-ministers-offer-of-100000-bounty-on-anti-islam-filmmaker
(2)http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/Pak-minister-places-100-000-bounty-for-anti-Islam-film-maker/Article1-934188.aspx
(3)http://m.gawker.com/5945866/pakistani-cabinet-minister-offers-100000-bounty-on-innocence-of-muslims-filmmaker
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ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post…
ReplyDeleteObviously it was wrong for the making of that video since it was gutless and hurtful towards a sacred prophet, Muhammad. It’s undeniable that this $100 000 bounty that the Pakistan Prime Minister is offering is irrational and unprofessional. We can all agree that it is morally wrong and so on, but what hasn’t been previously mentioned or discussed is the relations between the U.S and Pakistan. Pakistan is a Major non-NATO ally of the United States, which is the second-largest supplier of military equipment to Pakistan after China and largest economic aid contributor as well.(1)(2)(3)The U.S has helped support Pakistan for several years now sparring billions and billions of dollars to help them out with their financial problems. If Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour is an “ally” of the United States doesn’t it seem wrong that he is making a bounty offer to kill an American Citizen? Personally I believe that this offer whether accepted or denied, the fact in itself that it was offered in the first place is only going to up bring further outrage, and when outrage gets out of hand that’s when things lead to war and such. However, this ally topic brings me to mention that not only is it wrong for the minister to place such an offer on one of his allies citizens…but if they need so much financial help why is it that they can afford to give away $100 000 for a killing? All this being said, is Pakistan a country to trust? They not only are having problems with the States right now over a 13 minute long low budget film, but they have rivalries with other nations such as India. They have fought 3 wars in the past, over the continuing dispute over the status of Kashmir inflames opinion of the two nations. (4)
1."U.S-Pakistan Military Cooperation". Council on Foreign Relations. http://www.cfr.org/pakistan/us-pakistan-military-cooperation/p16644. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
2.Provost,Claire(July 15,2011). "Sixty years of US aid to Pakistan: Get the data". Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jul/11/us-aid-to-pakistan. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
3."U.S.-PAKISTAN RELATIONS". state.gov. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3453.htm#relations.
4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Pakistan
Pakistan's response to this event clearly shows that they are and unstable country that only responds to acts of disrespect with anger and violence. It shows that they can not be trusted to make rational, sound decisions.
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