Freedom of expression shouldn’t be misused: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is asking the Ummah to unite and sue the French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, which continues to offend the Muslims, by moving court against the publication and also seek an apology from it.
Pakistan, while strongly condemning the publication of the blasphemous caricatures in the French magazine, according to the spokesperson at the Foreign Office, says, “We believe that freedom of expression should not be misused as means to attack or hurt public sentiments or religious beliefs.
“This is an attempt to divide peoples and civilisations. There is a need to promote harmony among peoples and communities instead of reinforcing stereotypes and making people alienated in their own countries.”
In this regard, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has written a letter to the OIC secretary general while recommending legal action to seek an apology from the French magazine and joint action by the Ummah to get criminalisation of all acts of Islamophobia.
The spokesperson, in a statement, said that echoing the sentiments of the people of Pakistan, the president and the prime minister had strongly condemned the publication, which had caused great offence to the Muslims by hurting their sentiments and religious sensibilities all over the world.
The National Assembly and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have passed resolutions condemning the blasphemous publication, which hurt the core belief of all the Muslims.Protests against giving licence in the name of freedom of expression to insult Muslims are being held all over Pakistan and the Muslim world.