ISLAMABAD – On the directions of the Federal Cabinet, the PakistanForeign Office has summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Kingdom of theNetherlands to the Foreign Office today.
FO lodged strong protest on the announcement by leader of the Dutch FreedomParty and Parliamentarian Geert Wilders to hold a competition ofblasphemous caricatures.
Deep concern was conveyed at this deliberate and malicious attempt todefame Islam.
The Federal Cabinet, in its meeting, strongly condemned this abominable andreprehensible plan. The Ambassador of Pakistan in The Hague has beeninstructed to forcefully raise the issue with the Dutch government alongwith Ambassadors of OIC member states.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York andGeneva have also been directed to take up the matter with the UN SecretaryGeneral, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN related bodiesand procedures.
Former Foreign Minister had written to OIC Secretary General also seekinghis leadership in this matter, who in turn has written to the Dutch ForeignMinister on behalf of the OIC, protesting against this abominable event.
The matter would also be discussed in the forthcoming meeting of the OICCouncil of Foreign Ministers, scheduled to be held on the sidelines of the73rd session of United Nations General Assembly in New York in September2018. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will lead the Pakistandelegation to this meeting and raise the issue of blasphemous caricatures.