(RSF/IFEX) – On 30 July 2003, RSF called on the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh to lift the bans they have imposed on the latest issue of the American news magazine “Newsweek”, because of an article about a German academic’s research into the origins of the Koran. “Repeated bans on international magazines on account of […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 30 July 2003, RSF called on the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh to lift the bans they have imposed on the latest issue of the American news magazine “Newsweek”, because of an article about a German academic’s research into the origins of the Koran.
“Repeated bans on international magazines on account of articles about Islam constitute a flagrant violation of the free flow of information,” RSF said in separate letters to Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad and Bangladeshi Information Minister Tariqul Islam.
The organisation urged the two officials to do everything possible to get this issue of “Newsweek” out to subscribers and on newsstands in their respective countries, and to ensure that all foreign publications are henceforth distributed without prior control by the authorities.
On 24 July, the Pakistani information minister announced that the Customs Department had been given orders to seize all copies of “Newsweek”‘s 28 July issue because of an article entitled “Challenging the Qur’an”. The Pakistani authorities said the article “insulted” the Koran and “could cause disturbances.”
The article reported that a German linguist believes the Koran may have originally been written in Aramaic, rather than Arabic, and that this would explain a number of errors of interpretation concerning the veil, the reward given to martyrs, and even the origins of the Koran itself.
Following its appearance, “Newsweek”‘s stringer in Peshawar (the capital of North West Frontier Province) fled the city for fear of reprisals.
“Newsweek”‘s distributor in Pakistan was previously forced to suspend distribution of the magazine in September 2001 over an article by a Pakistani university professor that was accused of being “blasphemous” (see IFEX alert of 5 September 2001).
The Customs Department checks the content of all foreign publications on arrival in Pakistan. If an article is considered contrary to Pakistani law, it is referred to the Press Information Department.
The Bangladeshi ban on the “sale and distribution” of “Newsweek”‘s latest issue was imposed on 28 July. The authorities said the article on the Koran could “hurt the religious sentiments of the country’s Muslims.”
In April 2002, the Bangladeshi authorities banned an issue of the “Far Eastern Economic Review” that dealt with the growing strength of Islamist groups in the country (see alerts of 8 and 5 April 2002). Two months earlier, the authorities banned an issue of “Newsweek” because it had published a representation of the Prophet Muhammad (see alert of 12 February 2002). An issue of “Newsweek” that included an article about Islam was also banned in Bangladesh in September 2000.
The article “Challenging the Qur’an” is available on “Newsweek”‘s website: http://www.msnbc.com/news/940974.asp
