Two gunmen have been shot dead in Texas at an exhibition and cartoon contest featuring depictions of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The controversy on the deaths notwithstanding, the core question that should be asked by the authorities, in the town of Garland, Texas is why was an exhibition which attempts to disparage the faith of Muslims and offends the teaching of Islam be open for public viewing? The rationale behind it wears thin.

The contest and exhibition, near Dallas, was billed as a “free speech” event, and featured far-right populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The event’s organisers, the American Freedom Defence Initiative (AFDI), also known as Stop Islamisation of America, had offered a $10,000 (Dh36,700) prize for the winner of the cartoon contest. Since when did Americans adopt a view, steeped in moral myopia, over the faith of billions of Muslims across the world and wrap it in the garb of ‘free speech’?

The AFDI has been spearheading campaigns against the building of Islamic centres as well as running anti-Islam advertisements across the US for some time now and this recent exhibition was yet another testimony of their hypocritical and objectionable stance of propagating free speech and free religion.