ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that dueto the effective diplomatic efforts of Pakistan government, the blasphemouscartoon contest issue has been resolved.
Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders said he has canceled a plannedcontest following threats and concerns other people could be put at risk.
The planned contest sparked angry protests in Pakistan as physicaldepictions of the prophet are forbidden in Islam and deeply offensive toMuslims.
By the grace of Allah Almighty, the blasphemous cartoon contest issue hasbeen resolved due to effective diplomatic efforts of the FederalGovernment. We must all work together to deny extremists on all sides thespace and opportunity to spread hatred, the foreign minister tweeted.
Earlier, the federal ministers met the leadership of Tehreek-e-Labaik andapprised them of the development.
Flanked by the Minister of State for Interior, Qureshi addressed a pressconference along with the TLP leader Pir Afzal Qadri late Thursday night.
The TLP leadership later announced end of the long March, of thousands ofpeople that had entered Rawalpindi late Thursday night, from Lahore.
Qureshi said the new government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf immediatelyafter coming into power raised the issue internationally at all foras. Hesaid the Parliament unanimously passed a resolution condemning the plans tohold the blasphemous caricature contest. He said the minority members wereat the forefront in condemning this heinous act.
He said he discussed the matter with his counterparts from importantCapitals and it was agreed to use the platform of the Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation OIC to present a unanimous stance and seek an end torepeat of such sacrilegious acts.
The Foreign Minister also recalled his phone call to the Dutch ForeignMinister and said he was informed that an act of an individual should notbe allowed to hurt the sentiments of billions of Muslims across the globe.
However he attributed the success to the blessings of Allah and said thecancellation has averted a major crisis. He said the Pakistani governmentfully endorses the sentiments of every Muslim, the religious scholars andUlema.
Earlier Prime Minister Imran Khan in a video message assured that hisgovernment would use the OIC platform to raise the issue at the UnitedNations and seek a permanent solution to such acts that hurt the sentimentsof the Muslims. – APP