Aren't We Being Over-sensitive?

The publication in The New Straits Times of the Non-Sequitur cartoon strip showing an image of a cartoonist advertising “Caricatures of Muhammmed While You Wait”, with the caption “Kevin finally achieves his goal to be the most feared man in the world”, has brought such a tremendous reaction from the Malaysian Muslim public that you start to wonder if most people understand the cartoon at all.

To me the cartoon wasn't making fun of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) nor did it display any sign of deriding Muslim sensitivities. It was actually lampooning the whole caricature episode that is gripping the world.

The cartoon's creator Wiley Miller is well renowned for satirising the American right wing establishment in his cartoons. He has never displayed any antireligious leanings in his work.

Our wholesale banning or censorship of any cartoon or writing which happens to mention the name of the prophet is sending a confusing message to those in the West trying to understand the Muslim sensitivity. If we give a knee jerk reaction to every little prod, the message they are getting is that Muslims are over-sensitive, or worse still, have no sensitivity at all.