Actor talked about the ongoing unrest in France over blasphemous cartoons and President Macron’s Islamophobic comments
Pakistan, on Monday, condemned the republication of blasphemous caricatures in France and the Islamophobic remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron, with lodging strong protest with the French ambassador, followed by the passage of resolutions in both houses of the parliament.
The resolutions in the Senate and the National Assembly were passed unanimously, as the lawmakers from both sides of the divide calling for recalling Pakistan’s ambassador in Paris in protest, saying that the French president had hurt the sentiments of billions of Muslims around the globe.
Earlier, the Foreign Office said in a statement, that France’s ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was handed by a demarche by the special secretary for Europe, condemning the publication of blasphemous sketches and the Islamophobic comments later made by Macron.
Reactions to Macron’s statements were strong. Among the political figures, Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi took to social media and shared his two cents on the ongoing controversy.
Taking to Twitter, the actor penned, “It is your right to disagree and criticise but it is not your right to mock with the intent to deliberately insult and provoke. It’s immoral, unethical and uncivilised.”
Abbasi went on to comments, “The only way we Muslims can make the world understand that is solely by peace and dialogue – not murder, war and hostility.”
“What if Muslims organise a contest of throwing cow meat on a Ram statue?” questioned the Waar actor. “Or who can slaughter the most pigs in a synagogue or who can spit on a cross with the most accuracy. It’s evil. The same applies in the case of making insulting cartoons of a man held sacred by more than 1.5 billion people.”
Backstory:
Earlier this month, a schoolteacher was beheaded in France by an 18-year-old man for showing blasphemous cartoons to his students in the name of “freedom of expression”. After the incident, French President Macron had targeted Islam in his comments.
Meanwhile, protesters rallied in the major cities of the country on Monday, where they demanded a boycott of French goods, while religious leaders called for larger demonstrations on Friday. In Lahore, protesters also set France’s tricolour flag ablaze.