Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on
Wednesday wrote to the leaders of Muslim countries calling on them to
act together against Islamophobia, as anger grows over France’s defence
of the right to mock religion.
Muslims across the world have
reacted furiously to French President Emmanuel Macron’s defence of free
speech after a French school teacher who had shown his pupils cartoons
of the Final Prophet Mohammed (Pbuh) was killed.
Khan accused
European countries of ridiculing the Prophet (Pbuh), allowing
discrimination against Muslims and refusing to let Muslim women wear
conservative clothing.
“The recent statements at the leadership
level and incidents of desecration of the Quran are a reflection of the
increase in Islamophobia that is spreading in European countries,” the
letter said, days after Khan accused Macron of attacking Islam.
In a speech in Lahore on Wednesday, Khan added that the lives of Muslims have been made difficult in France, and Western countries should consider the sensitivities of devotees.
Caricatures of Prophet Mohammed (Pbuh) are forbidden by Islam and blasphemy is an explosive issue in Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty.
Macron’s comments have triggered protests and a call to boycott French goods in some Muslim-majority countries.
Small and scattered protests have taken place across Pakistan this week, including in the port city of Karachi on Wednesday.
Khan’s office earlier wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking the social media giant to take down Islamophobic content.
