Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a magazine founded by the writer Stephen Spender in 1972 to fight for freedom of speech. It was recently involved in a controversy after publishing an article that to many readers seemed to condone or justify the murder of the Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh. The article, written by the magazine's Associate Editor Rohan Jayasekera, claimed that van Gogh was a "free-speech fundamentalist" who had been on a "martyrdom operation[,] roar[ing] his Muslim critics into silence with obscenities" in an "abuse of his right to free speech". Describing van Gogh's film Submission as "furiously provocative", Rohan concluded by describing his death as:
- A sensational climax to a lifetime's public performance, stabbed and shot by a bearded fundamentalist, a message from the killer pinned by a dagger to his chest, Theo van Gogh became a martyr to free expression. His passing was marked by a magnificent barrage of noise as Amsterdam hit the streets to celebrate him in the way the man himself would have truly appreciated.
- And what timing! Just as his long-awaited biographical film of Pim Fortuyn's life is ready to screen. Bravo, Theo! Bravo![1]
There were many protests from both left- and right-wing commentators at the article, and Nick Cohen of the London Observer wrote in December, 2004, that:
- When I asked Jayasekera if he had any regrets, he said he had none. He told me that, like many other readers, I shouldn't have made the mistake of believing that Index on Censorship was against censorship, even murderous censorship, on principle -- in the same way as Amnesty International is opposed to torture, including murderous torture, on principle. It may have been so its radical youth, but was now as concerned with fighting 'hate speech' as protecting free speech.[2]