Thaindian News

By Ranjan Bhaduri
May 20, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The popular social networking site Facebook has been shut down in Pakistan for a one month period and it has been done after Molly Norris, a Seattle cartoonist arranged for a cartoonist contest on the site. Since the contest involves prophet Mohammed, Pakistan has cried foul and decided to shun Facebook for a month. The Islamic lawyers association in Pakistan’s Lahore has termed it as a wicked and offensive act and they have also won an injunction against Facebook. A page on Facebook was promoting the concept of the cartoonist and it got more than 70000 members quickly.

After this development, the cartoonist Molly Norris expressed her apology to the Muslims in her site and made it clear that she did not have any intention of hurting the belief and sentiments of the Muslim community. Of course she did not have any idea that her concept will backfire in a big way and lead to the development of a fiasco. The idea was seized by other Facebook users and within a short span of time the online contest became widespread. The Muslim leaders have found the depiction of Prophet Mohammed absolutely inappropriate.

After the cartoon contest fiasco became known on the web a website named RevolutionMuslim has demanded violent retribution for the acts of the cartoonist. Molly Norris later realized the gravity of the situation. The entire incident once again points to the fact that the over dependence on social networking sites can lead to unexpected and not so pretty developments. The Pakistan Government is firm on its decision to ban Facebook till the end of May.