Dutch FM says caricature completion is an individual’s act

ISLAMABAD: Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said that a caricature competition being staged by an anti-Islam parliamentarian Greet Wilders was an individual’s act.

This he said while speaking to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who phoned his Dutch counterpart and expressed Pakistan’s concerns about the sacrilegious competition.

“It is an individual’s act. Our government is neither associated nor supporting the competition,” Blok said.

The two foreign ministers agreed to work together and coordinate in the matter, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Foreign Minister Qureshi expressed the deepest concern on the holding of abominable and sacrilegious competition by the Party of Freedom (PVV) leader Greet Wilders.

"This deliberate effort under the pretext of freedom of expression is of great concern to the Muslims across the world. Such acts must be prevented as they spread hate and intolerance in societies," the minister said.

On the other hand, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) set off for Islamabad to hold a protest against the proposed competition.

The party said that it would not end the protest unless Pakistan expelled the Dutch ambassador.