Pakistan condemns republication of blasphemous caricatures in France

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday condemned the decision of French magazine to republish blasphemous caricatures and said that Islamabad has conveyed its concerns to Paris.

“Pakistan believes in freedom of expression, however, such liberty does not mean to have a license to hurt religious sentiments of others,” the Foreign Minister said in a video message, in response to the growing trend of Islamophobia world over.

French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo has recently announced to republish the offensive caricatures of Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him), which had received immense ire from the Muslims.

“I strongly condemn the French magazine Charlie Hebdo on my own behalf and on behalf of the government of Pakistan. The blasphemous sketches have hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims,” he said.

He said the concern had been conveyed to the Ambassador of France in Pakistan and expressed hope that such a blasphemous act would not be repeated and the involved persons would be brought to justice.

Qureshi said the unjustified act deserved utmost condemnation and pointed out that the world was witnessing an increasing trend of Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia.

He mentioned that Pakistan raised the issue of Islamophobia at every international forum and recalled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s address at the United Nations General Assembly last year where he urged upon the world to address this problem.

“At the international level, we must sit down and think about how to stop such tendencies that hurt the religious feelings of others. We expect the international community to address this issue immediately,” he said.