Such actions undermine the global aspirations for peaceful co-existence as well as social and inter-faith harmony. Such a deliberate act to offend the sentiments of billions of Muslims cannot be justified as an exercise in press freedom or freedom of expression. It added that such a deliberate act to “offend the sentiments of billions of Muslims cannot be justified as an exercise in press freedom or freedom of expression”. Pakistan’s foreign ministry also condemned the move and tweeted, “#Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms the decision by the French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, to re-publish deeply offensive caricature of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)”. In Pakistan, especially, thousands of people rallied in anti-France protests that were led by the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party, which has organised many protests against alleged blasphemy in the past. Any form of visual depiction of the Prophet is forbidden in Islam and is considered blasphemous. People from several countries like France, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Chechnya and Yemen have taken to the streets to agitate against the cartoons that depict Prophet Muhammad. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party at that time was forced to accept the resignation of Law and Justice Minister Zahid Hamid, who Labaik held responsible for the change, after seven people were killed and nearly 200 wounded in a failed attempt by police to disperse the protesters.New Delhi: French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo‘s decision to republish the cartoons featuring Prophet Muhammad, that had prompted the 2015 terror attack in its Paris office, have led to widespread protests across the world. Labaik led a major protest against the government last year, shutting down a main highway leading into Islamabad for nearly three weeks over a small change in wording in an electoral law that it contended amounted to blasphemy. Wilders has for years lived under constant security due to repeated death threats linked to his criticism of Islam. Police said they detained a 26-year-old suspect who is likely to be arraigned on August 30. On August 28, Dutch news reports suggested that a man who was detained there on suspicion of threatening to attack Wilders was a Pakistani national. Officials from the Punjab provincial government met with Labaik leaders in Lahore in a vain attempt to persuade them to call off their protest on August 29.īut emotions have been running high over the matter in Pakistan, where blasphemy is punishable by death and where the mere accusation of it can cause lynchings.Ī former Pakistani cricketer, Khalid Latif, has offered a $28,000 reward for anyone who would "kill the Dutchmen" behind the cartoon contest. "They don't understand how much they hurt us when they do such acts," Khan said on August 28, a day after the upper house of parliament condemned the planned cartoon competition. Khan's office said on August 29 that Pakistan has registered a protest with the Dutch ambassador over the matter and will bring the matter before the United Nations. The Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte last week distanced his government from the cartoon competition, saying it "was not something I would do," while defending Wilders' right to freedom of speech. Wilders has said he intends to display the cartoons on the walls of his political party's room in parliament. The event has the potential to upset Muslims not only in Pakistan but elsewhere around the world. Pakistan has already complained to the Dutch government about the contest planned by Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch lawmaker with a history of incendiary remarks about Islam. "We will only stop when the government meets this demand." "The Dutch ambassador should be immediately deported," Labaik spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters. He said he intends to take the protests that began in Lahore through the towns of Punjab Province to the capital Islamabad, where protesters plan to stage a sit-in to pressure Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan to cut diplomatic ties with the Netherlands.
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