Cartoon of Prophet outraged
COPENHAGEN: Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard prompted protests across the Muslim world and sparked a debate about freedom of expression when he produced an image linking the prophet Mohammed with terrorism.
Westergaard died last week, aged 86. The news was first announced by Danish newspaper
Berlingske, which cited his family. He was said to have died after a long illness.
Westergaard became known globally when his cartoon depicting the Prophet wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb was published in the JyllandsPosten newspaper.
The image sparked Denmark’s biggest foreign policy crisis since the end of World War 2.
Four months after the publication, the cartoon triggered protests in multiple Muslimmajority countries, some of which became violent.
Danish and Norwegian embassies were attacked and dozens of people died.
The cartoon controversy also led to diplomatic disagreements between Denmark and various other countries and several calls for boycotts of Danish products.
The events prompted a debate about the limits of freedom of expression and religion in the country and beyond. Not only is the depiction of Mohammed considered taboo by many adherents of the Muslim faith, linking the religion’s founder with terrorism was considered a step too far by many.
Westergaard was one of several cartoonists who responded to a call from
JyllandsPosten.
But his depiction of Mohammed with the bomb turban was met with the greatest outrage from Muslims.
‘‘Kurt Westergaard’s fight for freedom of expression cannot die with him,’’ JyllandsPosten said in a statement.
Berlingske called him the ‘‘embodiment of freedom of expression in Denmark’’.
Westergaard routinely referred to himself as an atheist.
‘‘I want to be remembered as the person who fought for freedom of expression,’’ he was once cited by Berlingske as saying.
‘‘But there is no doubt that some people will remember me as a satan, who insulted the religion of a billion people.’’
Westergaard, a teacher who had worked for the conservative
JyllandsPosten newspaper since the 1980s, had to be accompanied by bodyguards from then on. In 2010, he narrowly escaped an attack by a 28yearold man who broke into his house with an axe. — DPA