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The limits of freedom
By HUMAYUN GAUHAR
| Humayun Gauhar is the ghost writer of Pervez Musharraf's 2006 biography 'In The Line of Fire'. He is the son of Altaf Gauhar, the ghost writer of Pak Dictator Ayub Khans 1968 biography 'Friends not Masters' |
Double standards have screwed up the world - one rule for you and another for us. Muslims are as guilty of this duality as non-Muslims are, calling all and sundry "infidels" with great abandon, even twisting the intent of God if they have to. In the tears over the Danish embassy bomb last Monday, let the context not be lost. Our latest foreign secretary said that Pakistanis are "ashamed" of this incident. But can the same be said about the Danish people? They allowed their media to print and reprint and go on printing the blasphemous cartoons with great abandon too. I use the word "allowed" because public pressure can stop most things. I hope that they will now learn something from this horrible incident, that while all freedoms are highly desirable, they too have limits.
It's not a question of "freedom is indivisible" - sound-bytes that stick in the gullet are plain humbug that mean little and only mislead. The limits of freedom begin where the freedoms of others start getting transgressed. You have the right to express anything you like as long as it doesn't hurt others.
Posted by: john frum 2008-06-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=241241 |
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