Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf Friday demanded from the world community to declare sacrilege a crime globally.
Sacrilege was intolerable for the Muslims, as it was not the issue of freedom of expression instead it was the question of violence on earth, he said.
Addressing the Ishq-e-Rasool Conference (Love for Holy Prophet PBUH) here Friday, the prime minister said that freedom of expression didn’t mean that revered personalities be made a target, adding that protest against such despicable acts was our religious duty.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that the world today was threatened by the religious extremism and one of the reasons of extremism was disrespect to other religions.He said that the miscreants have targeted the greatest personality of the universe whom no power on earth could ever cause any damage.
Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the sentiments of the Muslims were not taken care of, while the debate on holocaust was forbidden. Pakistan has the right to protest against the anti-Islam film and added that all the religions, beliefs and the revered personalities must be respected.
He said that Pakistan was the only Islamic country observing protest day officially and this was not all but President Asif Ali Zardari would be taking up this issue in the General Assembly of the United Nations.
He said anti-social elements were using the concept of freedom of speech in an offensive manner, adding that, Islam was a religion of peace and preached respect for all faiths.
He warned if such actions did not stop, they would create instability worldwide. He said we want such a resolution of the matter which has international support and protection so that such sacrilegious acts could be averted in future.
He pointed out that desecration of last Prophet Hazrat Mohammad [Peace Be Upon Him] has witnessed an upsurge in recent years in the name of freedom of expression. He said this is not freedom of expression. This is more about hatred and demonstrates blatant double standards.
Pervez Ashraf said the personality of holy Prophet Mohammad [Peace Be Upon Him} is paramount to the principles of our great faith of peace, tolerance and harmony and central to the beliefs of Muslims. He said an attack on the Prophet Hazrat Mohammad [Peace Be Upon Him] is an attack on the core belief of 1.5 billion muslims. This is something that is unacceptable. Our faith remains incomplete without total devotion and reverence to the Prophet. The anguish and hurt is even more deep after the discovery that the profane act was based on biased, hatred and prejudice.
He said we appreciate those in the international community who joined Muslims in condemning this act.
He said the Holy Prophet gave the message of peace and harmony. He appealed the nation to maintain peace and avoid violence. It is our collective responsibility to protest peacefully without causing harm or damage to properties or lives. He said as the punishment of one’s crime can’t be given to another person, similarly it is not right to damage the foreign diplomatic missions. He urged the Ulema and Mashaikh to use their influence over masses to help stopping the violence.
The Prime Minister said the Islamic countries should formulate a unified policy to impress upon the world community that the Muslims are enraged over the profane acts and want an end of them. He said irrevervance and disrespect to other’s religions is the root cause of extremism. He said world peace could only be ensured by giving respect to the sentiments of all faiths.
On its part, the Prime Minister said, Pakistan has started interfaith dialogue process and also carved out a ministry for minorities affairs. Appreciating the minorities for their support in the wake of screening of blasphemous film, Pervez Ashraf said we will also stand shoulder to shoulder with them for the protection of their rights.
He said it was the right of the Pakistani people to express their strong sentiments against the blasphemous movie. He however emphasized that these sentiments need to be given a constructive direction in order to transform the Muslims into a socio economic and political power.
So what’s next? Eating pork would be a global crime? Would beating your wife be declared OK globally because Koran says so? Would having sex with a 9 year old be OK because Mohammed did so? Would the rights of non-Muslims be limited to half of that of Muslims because the Hadith says so? Did Raja Parvez notice exporting WMDs was is already a global crime and the entire Paki army and establishment was up to their nose deep in it? You Pakis are fools. You can pass any number of laws. However, respect for your prophet has to come from the heart of people and not because of some stupid laws you tried to pass. If the cat was not already out of the bag, it is now. The car burning, embassy attacking and murder and mayhem that followed have brought to the attention of the world what was the true character of Mohammed. Passing these laws is not going to change anyone opinion of Mohammed’s unworthy character and the violet ideology he preached.
Obama is an ass if there was a bold US president all this non sense would not have happened . I feel sorry for the policemen who died because of these politicians who were so delusional to think that the product of their religion will celebrate live of their prophet peacefully !
You hardly know the US. No US President dare to shut down Free Speech. It is one of the most important tenant of the US Constitution. USA is not Pakistan where citizens could be shot because Zardari, Zia ul Haq or Kiyani did not like what they said. Obama is one of the best Presidents they ever had and will ever have. You are lucky it is not Bush on this watch.
It is this hatred and the worse enemity from extremists like you which has made this world a bitter place to live for all humans. Jag you will one day find out what you have in mind for greater muslim population and their beliefs is the worst / full of hatred and no respect mindset that you will regret and there will be no good place for you when u finally will burn.
I am not really concerned about what happens in my after life. My motto is to live a good one here and that includes calling it out as I see it. And believe me there are billions like on the planet. We refuse to respect the unrespectable.
What is the secret to the youthfulness of all Pakistani politicians? None of them have white hair regardless of their age.
jag, if u r inable to think about ur being and ur world view is so childish…u r at a loss… Isn’t it like being an animal…neither responsible nor accountable. Congrats on living ..in fools paradise….live like beasts n die like
AAa – still better than dieing on the street like your fellow citizens. I don't believe in worshipping something that is at best fiction at worst a nightmare. I live a good life and I am not afraid of death. Death shall come to me one day exactly like life came to me. The life of a beast is what your fellow countrymen live out today.
Looks like Paki pollies will say anything to appease the masses… How about them actually growing a pair and denouncing violence of any kind for any reason. Diverting blame for an apparent religious insult is ridiculous. The real hypocrisy of this is the constant insults (burning flags, destroying property, mass murder) that Muslims perpetrate every day that is just ignored by the same government because it is done in the name of Islam. What a joke this is – at least these recent events have managed to do one thing and wake up governments and citizens that were once naïve about this so called 'religion of peace' and hopefully readdress their immigration policies to stop allowing people with this terrible religion to move to their country.
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