Hoganas, Sweden:After the Danish cartoon controversy of 2005, another Scandinavian cartoonist is in trouble.
Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks has depicted the Prophet Mohammad as a dog in one of his works.
Vilks says he wanted to take a stand for artistic freedom.
"It should be possible to insult all religions in a democratic way. If you insult one, then you should insult the other ones," Vilks maintained.
He may have got a taste of that freedom, but now, police are insisting he lie low, for Lars Vilks is a wanted man. Terrorist group al Qaeda wants him executed for his sketch and has even offered $150,000 as a reward.
Every day Vilks is overwhelmed by death threats, sent to over phone, text message and e-mail.
'If I have the occasion, I should slaughter you,' is one of the threats; 'I will kill you, you son of a bitch' is another.
"You get used to it", said Vilks, when asked why he was not afraid of the threats.
The Swede, who even depicted Jesus as a paedophile in another sketch, says he is an equal opportunity offender and rejects the idea that he should have known better than to make such a sketch because of the Danish cartoon controversy.
Though his car is checked for bombs and other booby traps, Vilks has decided to defy the police and continues to spend most of his days working out of his rural Swedish home, despite the fact that he is a sitting duck for terrorists.
Every night, Vilks drives to a location near a safe house, taking a secret route, which involves going through back-gardens and climbing walls.
Vilks makes no excuses for his cartoons. His drawing is his right, he says. Although he knows such defiance can get him killed, he insists that his art is worth dying for.
Comments
0 comment