Pakistan summons French ambassador over Macron’s remarks
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a statement that Macron’s remarks have fueled the already tense situation.
Qureshi said Islamabad, through a resolution, would suggest at the forthcoming Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to observe March 15 as an annual day against Islamophobia.
“Nobody has the right to hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims. Just in the garb of freedom of speech.” He said, urging the UN to take note of the ongoing “hateful narrative” against Islam.
Earlier this month, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis.” He announced plans for tougher laws. To tackle what he called “Islamist separatism” in France.
The Foreign Office summoned on Monday. French Ambassador Marc Baréty to record Pakistan’s strong protest; over French President Emmanuel Macron’s Islamophobic comments and publication of blasphemous sketches.
The special secretary for Europe handed over a letter of protest to the French ambassador.
Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday said that by encouraging the display of blasphemous cartoons targeting Islam and Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), French President Macron had chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims, including his own citizens.
Earlier this month, schoolteacher Samuel Paty beheaded by an 18-year-old man. He was for showing blasphemous cartoons to his students in the name of “freedom of expression”. French police killed the 18-year-old subsequently.
“It is unfortunate that he has chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists,” the prime minister remarked in a series of tweets.
Hallmark of a leader is he unites human beings, as Mandela did, rather than dividing them. This is a time when Pres Macron could have put healing touch & denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarisation & marginalisation that inevitably leads to radicalisation
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 25, 2020
Responding to the teacher’s killing; French President Macron had said that “Islam as a religion is in crisis all over the world. We will closely monitor schools. We will control over incoming foreign funding to further improve mosques .”
Several Muslim countries condemned Macron’s statement. They called for a boycott of French products. Whereas Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “What problem does the French president have with Muslims and Islam? He needs mental treatment.”
Earlier today, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi condemned President Macron’s Islamophobic comments. He says that “there is resentment in the world over the blasphemous caricatures.”
FM Qureshi urged the United Nations (UN) to take notice and action against the hate-based narrative against Islam.
“Irresponsible statement of the French president has added fuel to the fire,” the foreign minister added. “Nobody has the right to hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims under the garb of freedom of expression.”
The FM further warned that the seeds of hate sowed today would polarise the society and have serious consequences.
“The French ambassador to Pakistan has summoned to the Foreign Office to register a protest,” Qureshi added.
FM said that a comprehensive resolution would be presented, on the instructions of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, at the next meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers, proposing to observe March 15 as the international day against Islamophobia.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has also urged Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to impose a ban on Islamophobia and hate content against Islam which is causing “rampant abuse and vilification of Muslims” on social media platforms.
“I am writing to draw your attention to the growing Islamophobia that is encouraging hate, extremism, and violence across the world and especially through the use of social media platforms including Facebook. I appreciate your taking the step to rightly ban any posting that criticizes or questions the Holocaust, which was the culmination of the Nazi pogrom of the Jews in Germany and across Europe as Nazis spread across Europe,” PM Imran said in a letter wrote to Zuckerberg on Sunday.
My letter to CEO Facebook Mark Zuckerberg to ban Islamophobia just as Facebook has banned questioning or criticising the holocaust. pic.twitter.com/mCMnz9kxcj
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 25, 2020
