ISLAMABAD – The federal cabinet has strongly condemned the blasphemouscaricature competition announced in Netherlands.

The federal cabinet said that the Ambassador of Pakistan in The Hague hasbeen instructed to forcefully raise the issue with the Dutch governmentalong with 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.

The former Foreign Minister had written to the OIC Secretary General alsoseeking his leadership in this matter, who in turn has written to the DutchForeign Minister on behalf of the OIC, protesting against this abominableevent.

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.

The Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will lead the Pakistan delegationto this meeting and raise the issue of blasphemous caricatures.

The government of Pakistan would continue to vigorously pursue the matterwith the Dutch government and raise it at the relevant international forafrom preventing this abhorrent act taking place, the statement added.