The National Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed two separate resolutions demanding bar on the controversial movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’ carrying blasphemous material intended to defame Islam and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and to initiate action against those responsible for the fire incidents in Lahore and Karachi after a judicial probe.
Both resolutions were tabled by Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naik during the sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday.
The first resolution presented by Farooq H Naik demanded the US government to take strict against the makers of the contentious movie having derogatory scenes against Islam. The resolution stated that the entire nation condemned the anti-Islam movie in the strongest words and stressed that feelings of the followers of other religions would have to be taken into account and respected.
This resolution was clipped by another identical resolution presented by Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan President Sahibzada Fazal Karim, and after its approval, the lawmakers demanded the government to forward the draft to the United Nations and to record protest on behalf of Muslims.
Earlier‚ the House unanimously suspended the Order of the Day. Law Minister Farooq H Naik also presented a separate resolution that recommended the provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh to constitute judicial commissions to probe into the fire incidents and fix responsibility on owners for not providing proper facilities to workers and the concerned government authorities for not ensuring and regulating the required laws and procedures.
Expressed grief and sorrow over the Karachi and Lahore tragedies, the draft of the resolution demanded proper legislation to avoid such incidents in the future.
It also recommended proper compensation for the families of the victims.
Earlier, representatives from the PPP, PML-N, JUP, JUI-F and MQM demanded the government to convey a strong message to the US government against the blasphemous movie that has hurt the sentiments of the Muslim Ummah. Speaking on the issue, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira condemned the airing of defamatory video clip in the US and said the Foreign Office had already strongly condemned the issue.
He said those who claimed to be champions of human rights must also take care of the feelings of the others.
Kaira noted that the anti-Islam movie hurt the feelings of Muslims the world over. Leader of the Opposition Nisar Ali Khan said freedom of expression was everyone’s right, but offering prayers publicly was not allowed in most European countries.
