ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The National Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution against blasphemous caricatures published in a French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
The Federal Railways Minister Saad Rafique tabled the resolution which says the European Union must take action to stop publishing of such ridiculous material and House believes in freedom of expression.
The resolution says that this House strongly condemns the printing to blasphemous caricature of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
Meanwhile, members of the parliament also took out a protest march after today’s session against publishing blasphemous caricatures, chanting that they won’t tolerate any blasphemy in the name of ‘freedom of expression’.
The parliamentarians demanded the United States and other world bodies to bring a halt to moves that spreading religious hatred
On January 7, at least 12 persons including two policemen were killed while 10 wounded when two unknown gunmen attacked the Paris headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo, which has repeatedly provoked Muslim anger by publishing cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
Later, an al-Qaeda branch in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on French satirical weekly newspaper, saying it chose and supported Said and Cherif Kouachi, the two brothers who allegedly carried out the deadly assault on Charlie Hebdo’s anti-Islamic cartoon.
However, the French satirical magazine once again published a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) on the cover of its new edition. It was reported that millions of copies of the new edition of the magazine were sold on Wednesday.
The Muslims across the world consider depicting Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as blasphemous.
But the French President Francois Hollande in a statement on Wednesday hailed the publication of a new edition of Charlie Hebdo.
“Charlie Hebdo is alive and will live on,” Hollande said adding that “You can murder men and women, but you can never kill their ideas.”
