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Pakistan PM: Insulting Islam's Prophet Should Be Same as Denying Holocaust

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is urging Western
   governments to criminalize any insulting remarks against Islam's
   Prophet Muhammad and treat offenders the same way they do those who
   deny the Holocaust.

   Khan spoke Saturday after violent nationwide protests this week by a
   radical Islamist party demanding expulsion of the French ambassador
   over the publication of cartoons in France depicting the prophet, an
   act condemned as blasphemous.

   Khan tweeted: "Those in the West, incl extreme right politicians, who
   deliberately indulge in such abuse & hate under guise of freedom of
   speech clearly lack moral sense & courage to apologize to the 1.3 bn
   Muslims for causing this hurt."

   He also called on Western governments that have outlawed negative
   comments about the Holocaust "to use the same standards to penalize
   those deliberately spreading their message of hate against Muslims by
   abusing our Prophet."

     I also call on Western govts who have outlawed any negative comment
     on the holocaust to use the same standards to penalise those
     deliberately spreading their message of hate against Muslims by
     abusing our Prophet PBUH.
     -- Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) [1]April 17, 2021

   Many European countries have laws that criminalize the Holocaust
   denial, an act of negating the Nazi genocide of European Jews, and
   offenders can end up in jail.

   Activists of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan
   protested in the streets Monday shortly after Pakistani authorities
   arrested their leader, Saad Rizvi.

   Officials defended the arrest, saying Rizvi was planning to march on
   Islamabad, with thousands of supporters set to besiege the capital to
   pressure the government to expel the French ambassador.

   Thousands of angry protesters blocked key highways, causing traffic
   jams, paralyzing business and routine life for three days in Pakistan.
   Police attempts to disperse the protesters sparked violent clashes that
   killed four law enforcers and injured more than 600 others.

   The demonstrations were eventually dispersed, but the unprecedented
   direct attacks on police provoked the government Thursday to outlaw TLP
   for indulging in terrorist attacks against the state.
   FILE - A supporter of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan Islamist political
   party hurls stones toward police during a protest against the arrest of
   its leader in Lahore, Pakistan, April 13, 2021.

   Khan on Saturday defended the ban on TLP and vehemently dismissed
   suggestions the move had stemmed from international pressure on
   Pakistan.

   "Let me make clear to people here & abroad: Our govt only took action
   against TLP under our anti-terrorist law when they challenged the writ
   of the state and used street violence & attacking the public & law
   enforcers," the prime minister wrote on Twitter. "No one can be above
   the law and the Constitution."

   TLP leaders have recently organized several major street protests,
   disrupting routine life and business in the country.

   Along with demonstrations against France, the extremist group has
   pressured the Pakistani government into not repealing or reforming the
   country's harsh blasphemy laws, which critics say often are used to
   intimidate religious minorities and settle personal disputes.

   French urged to leave

   On Thursday, France advised citizens and companies to temporarily leave
   Pakistan, citing "serious threats to French interests" in the South
   Asian nation.

   Most of the French nationals are said to have ignored the advisory,
   however, and have chosen to stay in Pakistan, the AFP news agency
   reported Saturday.

   Pakistani officials insisted there were no safety concerns for foreign
   nationals in the country.

   "We are aware of the advice, which appears to be based on their own
   assessment of the situation," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman
   Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said. "For its part, the government is taking
   enhanced measures for the maintenance of law and order and preventing
   any damage to life and property."

References

   1. https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1383312238195343361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw