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Russia caves in to Islamonutz
MOSCOW, Feb. 17 In a controversy with echoes of the Islamic anger over Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, the authorities in a central Russian city today ordered the closing of a newspaper that published a cartoon showing Muhammad along with Jesus Christ, Moses and Buddha.The cartoon, published on Feb. 9 in the official city newspaper in Volgograd, prompted some criticism and a federal criminal investigation but no public outrage. That may be, in large part, because it depicted the figures respectfully, renouncing violence, though Islamic teachings forbid any depiction of Muhammad. "Well, we did not teach them that," Moses says in a caption as the four watch a television set showing two groups confronting each other with banner and clubs and hurling stones. The cartoon appeared on Page 5, accompanying an article on an agreement signed by regional political parties and organizations to combat nationalism, xenophobia and religious conflicts. Volgograd's first deputy mayor, Andrei O. Doronin, announced the closing of the newspaper, Gorodskiye Vesti, or City News, "in order not to inflame ethnic hostilities," according to the official Russian Information Agency. He gave the newspaper a month to liquidate its assets, leaving the fate of its staff unclear. The closing came in the wake of the international protests over the Danish cartoons, which reverberated in Russia, a country with an estimated 20 million Muslims. Political and religious leaders here joined in denouncing the cartoons, although there have not been violent protests like those elsewhere. Chechnya's vice premier, Ramzan Kadyrov, suspended the work of the Danish Refugee Council in the battered republic. The Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, said, "One has to think a hundred times before publishing something, doing something or drawing something." Most of the criticism against the cartoon in Volgograd came not from Muslim or other religious leaders, but rather from the local branch of United Russia, the pro-Putin political party that dominates governments across the country. Those complaints prompted Russia's deputy prosecutor general, Nikolai I. Shepel, to announce an inquiry on Wednesday. Officials in Volgograd initially defended the newspaper, but another deputy mayor, Konstantin E. Kalachyov, said the decision to close the newspaper was an effort to contain a scandal that was "fanned up artificially" in the wake of the fury over the Danish cartoons. "You can say that the journalists were taught a lesson in political correctness," he said in a telephone interview. Since a city enterprise owns the newspaper, the mayor's office was essentially shutting its own business, though Mr. Kalachyov said he hoped the newspaper's staff could continue to work at a new city-owned paper that would replace Gorodskiye Vesti. Today's decision was denounced as censorship. "It is a downright disgrace," Igor Yakovenko of the Russian Union of Journalists told Interfax. Other religious leaders, including representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the chairman of the Islam Rights Center, told Interfax that the closing was excessively strict. The Public Chamber, a newly created federal advisory body, also called for the closing to be reconsidered. Tatyana A. Kaminskaya, the paper's editor, said in a telephone interview that no one had called the newspaper to complain about the cartoon in the eight days since its publication. She had not, she added, considered the furor surrounding the Danish cartoons when she decided to commission the cartoon. "We had an absolutely different goal when publishing this: to show the unifying force of all religions, which are based on kindness," she said. "None of the religions teach evil or war. I am a believer myself. And our newspaper never intended to insult the feelings of any believer." Posted by: Unique Battle 2006-02-17 |
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