Kurt Westergaard: Danish cartoonist behind Muhammad cartoon dies

The news of his death was met with both sadness and joy on social media

File image: Danish caricaturist Kurt Westergaard smiles in Liepzig, Germany, 8 October 2010 (reissued 18 July 2021). According to his family, Kurt Westergaard has died aged 86 (EPA)

Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, well known for drawing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, has died after a long illness at the age of 86.

In 2005, Westergaard became known for the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad he made for the conservative Jyllands-Posten newspaper where he was working since the early 1980s. Islam forbids the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad and many Muslims consider it offensive.

The cartoons resulted in protests in Denmark with the national government getting complaints from many Muslim-majority countries. Subsequently, in 2006, there were protests in several Muslim countries including attacks on the Danish embassies.

According to Berlingske on Sunday, Westergaard died at the age of 86 after a long illness.

He received several death threats in his lifetime, after which he went into hiding. But subsequently, he chose to live openly in Aarhus in Denmark.

The cartoonist was also a target of several assassination attempts and, in 2008, the intelligence agency of Denmark arrested three people who were allegedly planning to murder him. In 2010, the police in Denmark shot a Somali national with a knife trying to break into Westergaard’s house.

Though the cartoonist had to live with security at a secret location for years, in 2008, he told Reuters news agency of having no regrets about his cartoons. Westergaard said that the caricatures had led to “important” discussions.

“I would do it the same way (again) because I think that this cartoon crisis in a way is a catalyst which is intensifying the adaptation of Islam. We are discussing the two cultures, the two religions as never before and that is important,” he had said.

Following the news of his death, Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician, posted a photo on Twitter. “The great Kurt Westergaard died. He was a brave man. An example for all of us. Rest In peace my friend! #KurtWestergaard,” he tweeted.