Parliament urges govt to withdraw envoy from France
islamabad — Pakistan’s parliament on Monday passed a resolution urging the government to recall its envoy from Paris over the publication of blasphemous caricatures in France, accusing President Emmanuel Macron of “hate-mongering” against Muslims.
The National Assembly resolution, which is non-binding, came hours after the French ambassador in Islamabad was summoned to the foreign office to register its protest.
The developments were the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over France displaying caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The resolution expressed “serious concern at the highly disturbing statements and hate-monger
ing, specially by leaders like President Macron, justifying unlawful provocation and insult to the sentiments of more than a bil
lion Muslims”. The resolution also urged the government to ask other Muslim countries to boycott French products. Earlier, a foreign office statement said the French ambassador was summoned and told that “Pakistan strongly condemned equating Islam with terrorism, for narrow electoral and political gains”.
Macron had paid tribute to a French history teacher who was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin for showing blasphemous caricatures in a class on freedom of speech.
On Sunday Prime Minister Imran Khan took aim at Macron, saying he had attacked Islam by encouraging the display of caricatures.
Protests were held on Monday in the northwestern city of Peshawar and the eastern city of Lahore, where participants burnt the French flag and raised slogans against France and Macron. —