ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Tuesday called upon the Organization of IslamicCooperation (OIC) to summon an urgent session for adopting unanimousposition in response to the planned Dutch blasphemous event.
Addressing a press conference here, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshisaid he had written letters to six foreign ministers of the OIC countriesapprising them about the sentiments of the Pakistani nation and stance ofthe Government of Pakistan.
“I have also written a letter to the secretary general of OIC to summon anurgent session,” he said. The OIC was an effective forum for reflecting thesentiments of the 1.6 billion Muslims across the globe, he added.
The minister said he had talked to his Dutch counterpart Tuesday eveningand reminded him that the abominable act of the Dutch Parliamentarian GeertWilders was provoking, which had hurt the sentiments of Muslims across theworld. Such acts would spread hatred and intolerance.
Qureshi said the Government of Pakistan was fully cognizant of thesentiments of the nation and the Muslim Ummah, and had raised the issue atdifferent levels, in the parliament, at the Foreign Office, before the UNhuman rights commission and the European Union.
The Dutch minister during the telephonic conversation distanced hisgovernment from the blasphemous event and termed it an individual act, headded.
He said he told the Dutch minister that such individual acts could havelong lasting negative effects and give rise to intolerance, paving way forthe extremist thoughts. “We should not be oblivious of this fact and noticeshould be taken,” he added.
The minister said he had further reminded the Dutch minister that they alsorespected freedom of expression in politics and democracy, but it hadcertain limits, which could not be trampled.
“In Europe, if you talk about Holocaust, the people feel offended. Numerouspieces of legislation have been done there over the issue. The Muslimsacross the globe expect the same respect from the European countriesregarding their religious attachments,” he added.
The minister referred to recent events involving humiliation of Blackpeople in the United States, which led to launch of complete rightscampaigns. – APP