Sun 18 April 2021:
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday asked the governments of Western countries to “penalise those deliberately spreading their message of hate against Muslims” by disrespecting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the same way that they had “outlawed any negative comment against the Holocaust”.
Expressing concern over a rising wave of Islamophobia, particularly in the West, Khan, in a series of tweets, said: “I call on Western governments who have outlawed any negative comment on the holocaust to use the same standards to penalize those deliberately spreading their message of hate against Muslims by abusing our Prophet (PBUH).”
Let me make clear to people here & abroad: Our govt only took action against TLP under our anti-terrorist law when they challenged the writ of the state and used street violence & attacking the public & law enforcers. No one can be above the law and the Constitution.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 17, 2021
“Those in the West, including extreme right politicians, who deliberately indulge in such abuse & hate under guise of freedom of speech clearly lack moral sense & courage to apologize to the 1.3 bn Muslims for causing this hurt,” Khan went on to say.
“We demand an apology from these extremists.”
He said his message to “extremists abroad” who indulge in Islamophobia, and racist slurs to hurt and cause pain to the Muslims across the globe is “we Muslims have the greatest love and respect for our Prophet PBUH who lives in our hearts. We cannot tolerate any such disrespect and abuse.”
Let me make clear to people here & abroad: Our govt only took action against TLP under our anti-terrorist law when they challenged the writ of the state and used street violence & attacking the public & law enforcers. No one can be above the law and the Constitution.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 17, 2021
His remarks follow a tweet from Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, who had organized a contest of blasphemous caricatures in 2018 sparking global criticism.
Wilders asked Khan to have the head of an anti-France far-right religious group, Saad Rizvi arrested, and ban his “Islamofacist party”, which had issued a religious decree against the anti-Islam lawmaker for organizing the cartoon contest.
Pakistan on Thursday banned the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a religious group that staged protests in major Pakistani cities last week.
The religious group is demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador over the offensive cartoons.
“Let me make clear to people here & abroad: Our government only took action against TLP under our anti-terrorist law when they challenged the writ of the state and used street violence and attacking the public and law enforcers,” Khan said, adding that no one can be above the law and the Constitution.
Earlier this week, the TLP had taken to the streets across the country especially in Punjab after its chief Saad Hussain Rizvi was detained by security forces in Lahore.
Starting on Monday, charged TLP activists blocked roads across the country, damaged public properties, clashed with police, and even held some law-enforcement personnel hostage, videos of which were widely shared on social media. Expulsion of the French ambassador to Pakistan was one of the key demands of the protesters.
The clashes saw authorities use water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets to hold back crowds. This was followed by the police launching a crackdown against the protesters and getting roads cleared of protest camps.
Protests had broken out in several Muslim countries over France’s response to the murder in October last year of a teacher who showed cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in class.
French President Emmanuel Macron said at the time that France would “not give up our cartoons” while accusing French Muslims of “separatism” and describing Islam as “a religion in crisis.”
Following the killing, French President Emmanuel Macron criticised Islamists and vowed not to “give up cartoons” depicting Prophet Muhammad. Prime Imran Khan as well as other leaders of Muslim countries had denounced the French premier’s comments while countrywide protests were held calling for boycott of French products.
TLP was among the parties and groups that mounted protests in Pakistan.
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