UN to be moved on blasphemous content on social ­media

Nisar chairs meeting of Muslim countries’ envoys; to send reference to Arab League, OIC

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of ambassadors of the Islamic countries held on Friday with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the chair decided to raise the issue of blasphemous content on social media in the United Nations.

The meeting was convened by the interior minister on one-point agenda i.e. to discuss the blasphemous content on the social media and how to effectively raise voice of the entire Muslim world against the madness unleashed against Islam and holy personalities in the name of freedom of expression.

There was a unanimity among the participants that the entire Muslim Ummah is united to protect the sanctity and dignity of the religion and Holy Prophet (PBUH).

It was decided that a comprehensive strategy paper encompassing all legal and technical aspects would be circulated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs among the ambassadors of the Muslim countries which they would be sharing with their governments to evolve the future plan of action.

It was also decided that a formal reference would be sent to Secretary General of the Arab League and Secretary General of the OIC, raising the issue of blasphemous content on social media and how such a tendency had been hurting the sentiments of the Muslims across the world.

The meeting decided that after response is received from the governments of Islamic countries, the matter then would be taken up at the level of United Nations besides looking into legal options available to follow-up the matter legally in the courts of the respective countries from where such content was being generated.

Addressing the ambassadors, the interior minister pointed out that distortion of religious beliefs and sacrilege of holy personalities of any religion is intolerable. He said that no law permits showing disrespect or distortion of any religion.

The minister said it was unfortunate that the Muslims, being the biggest victims of terrorism, were being portrayed as the perpetrators. He said the Islamic Ummah must strive together to impress upon the international community to shed off Islamophobia.

The minister said that distortion of any religion is also another form of terrorism that the international community must acknowledge.

The interior minister said that sections of the Western world must get out of double standards about Islam and the Muslims. On the one hand, they have laws against any kind of distortion or disrespect towards any religion and, on the other hand, the most revered personalities of Islam are being ridiculed.

The ambassadors greatly appreciated the interior minister’s initiative for highlighting the issue and taking a lead role towards finding a solution to the issue.

They agreed in principle with the strategy identified by the interior minister.

Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, interior secretary and senior officers of the ministry were also present during the meeting.

The ambassadors and envoys attending the meeting were from Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Qatar, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Palestine, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and high commissioners of Maldives and Brunei Darus Salam.