Pakistanis condemn French blasphemers of Prophet
Javed Rana
Press TV, Rawalpindi
A massive public outpouring a large number of people mostly students took to the streets in garrison city of Rawalpindi near Pakistani capital Islamabad.
They vent their anger at the republication of blasphemous cartoons against Muslim Prophet Muhammad by French magazine Charlie Hebdo. Protesters called on the government to shutdown French embassy in Islamabad and expel its ambassador as a mark of protest against the blasphemy committed against the last Prophet of Islam.
There is no letup of protests like this one in Pakistan since the republication of the blasphemous cartoons. Analysts believe that the controversial policies of the Western countries breed violence in Muslim countries. The West has been engaged in creating adverse conditions to fan violence by deliberately allowing its media outlets and extremist elements to publicize blasphemous material against Islam.
French President Emmanuel Macron stood by his country’s controversial Magazine when he refused to condemn the republication of cartoon calling it a freedom of expression, something which has further angered people in Pakistan and elsewhere in Muslim world.
Pakistan condemned the republication of blasphemous cartoon and demanded France to punish the blasphemers. Freedom of Expression cannot serve as a license to play with the sentiments of people. We hope that the world would take concrete measures to end the menace of blasphemy.
The story goes back to 2006, when Charlie Hebdo first published 12 blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. Pakistan was the scene of massive protests against the cartoons in the past. In January 2015, two attackers reportedly driven by the sacrilegious action, attacked Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices, killing 12 people.
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