Pak rally ends as Dutch MP cancels cartoon contest
THEHAGUE/ISLAMABAD: Thousands of Pakistan’s hardline Islamists dispersed peacefully after ending their protest march near Islamabad on Friday following the cancellation of a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest sponsored by an anti-muslim Dutch lawmaker.
Geert Wilders on Thursday said he was cancelling plans to stage the competition, adding he had received several death threats. A man was arrested by police two days earlier on suspicion of wanting to assassinate Wilders.
The far-right politician backpeddled on his plans after media and ordinary citizens slammed the idea as needlessly antagonising Muslims.
“I have decided to cancel the competition to avoid the risk of making people victims of Islamist violence,” Wilders said. “I don’t want Muslims to use the cartoon competition as an excuse for Islamist violence.
Earlier on Thursday, a man briefly appeared in a Dutch court on suspicion of wanting to assassinate Wilders because of the plans to stage the cartoon competition. The 26-year-old man appeared at a closed sitting in The Hague with prosecutors saying he is suspected of “committing a terrorist act, planning to commit murder and incitement.”
Wilder’s U-turn prompted Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a fire- brand Pakistani cleric who heads Tehreek-i-labaik party, to end his march, which began on Wednesday from the eastern city of Lahore.
Rizvi had planned to stage a sit-in to force Pakistan to sever diplomatic ties with the Netherlands over the contest.
Physical depictions of the prophet are forbidden in Islam and deeply offensive to Muslims.
Tehreek-i-labaik spokesman Zubair Ahmed said on Friday the party did not support Imran Khan to become prime minister after the July 25 elections, but his government still allowed the marchers to reach the capital.
“We have peacefully dispersed and our supporters are going back,” he said.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met with the leaders of Tehreek-i-labaik and thanked them for calling off the march. He said the cancellation of the contest was success of their diplomatic efforts.