News Analysis |
In a laudable move, a unanimous resolution was adopted by the Upper House of the Parliament on Monday, 27th August, to condemn a blasphemous caricature (cartoon) competition being held in Netherland by a Dutch lawmaker, angering Muslims around the globe.
The resolution to voice these concerns internationally was presented by Leader of the House Senator Shibli Faraz and was unanimously approved by all Senators. Prime Minister Imran Khan was present during the session, marking his first session in the Senate.
Addressing the floor of the house, Prime Minister Khan said that his government would take up the matter in the upcoming UN General Assembly session, which is to open on 18th September, 2018. It has been reported that the Prime Minister will be accompanied only by the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and two other officials.
A Home Office spokesperson elaborated that The Government opposes extremism in all its forms and that was the driving force behind tighter rules on exclusions for unacceptable behavior that the Home Secretary announced in October 2008.
The Prime Minister said that his government would also try their utmost to convince the Islamic Union, the OIC, to take a stand at the international level on this enraging issue. The Prime Minister was of the opinion that these kind of events were a failure of the Muslim world. “We will raise this issue in the UN. But it is a big failure of the Muslim world first,” he expressed.
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The prime minister also said that Muslims were very sentimental about the sanctity of Holy Prophet (PUBH). He said that the protest will not be registered impact-fully as the West does not fully understand our sentiments regarding blasphemy and the reactions that these events concoct. “Our protest will have a little impact as very few Europeans understand hurting of Muslim sentiments over blasphemous content,” the Prime Minister said. “I understand the European mindset as I live here. They do not understand the love of Muslims for the Prophet.”
The resolution to voice these concerns internationally was presented by Leader of the House Senator Shibli Faraz and was unanimously approved by all Senators. Prime Minister Imran Khan was present during the session, marking his first session in the Senate.
In June this year, anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders announced that he would hold a competition of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad. The party said the plan to hold the competition in the party’s secure offices in Dutch Parliament had been approved by the Dutch Counter-terrorism Agency NCTV. In 2009, Geert Wilder, notorious for his extremist views on Islam and his anti-Muslim campaigning, was banned from entering the United Kingdom.
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Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Baroness Cox, members of the House of Lords (the upper chamber of the British Parliament), invited Wilders on 12 February 2009, for viewing of a movie Fitna in the Palace of Westminster. Two days before the showing, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith banned Wilders from entering the United Kingdom, labeling him an “undesirable person”.
A Home Office spokesperson elaborated that The Government opposes extremism in all its forms and that was the driving force behind tighter rules on exclusions for unacceptable behavior that the Home Secretary announced in October 2008. Wilders called then Prime Minister Gordon Brown “the biggest coward in Europe” and remarked, “Of course I will come back”. The ban was lifted by a UK tribunal in October 200.