Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has condemned a weak response of the Zardari government to a defamatory US movie, saying Islamabad failed to take up the issue with the US government.

In a statement, he said the scurrilous film had angered the entire Muslim Ummah and it was incumbent upon the American government to proceed against people spreading hate.

He said hate crimes were a punishable offence in the United States but why the law only applied to overt acts of violence? “The defamatory film is itself a violent and hateful crime against Islam and the US government cannot hide behind the freedom of expression excuse.

It gets away with lame expressions because governments in the Muslim world only express weak and tepid outrage that is not reflective of sentiments of their people,” he added.

Imran Khan said the Zardari regime should immediately raise the issue with the American government.

Meanwhile, PTI leader and former Minister Malik Abdul Qayyum said the government must take immediate steps to stop industrial accidents.