UN asked to legislate on sacrilegious material

Interfaith conference appreciates Pope’s statement on cartoons.


Our Correspondent January 26, 2015
Speakers said that mocking holy figures hurts the sentiments of their followers and impinging on their fundamental rights. PHOTO: EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD: Speakers at an interfaith conference urged the United Nations (UN) legislate to protect the sanctity of sacred personalities and the holy books of all religions. 

They were speaking at a conference organised by the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) here on Monday.

The conference was attended by Federal Information Minister Senator Pervez Rasheed, Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Yaqoob Ahmed, PUC head Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, and more than 33 representatives of different religious and political parties.

The conference also urged the government of Pakistan to convene a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to approach the UN for the same purpose.

The conference also urged moderate political and religious forces to take a unanimous stance on sacrilegious cartoons published by French magazine Charlie Hebdo and other publications.

Speakers said that mocking holy figures hurts the sentiments of their followers and impinging on their fundamental rights.

The conference also urged the European Union and other Western countries to draw a line between freedom of expression and blasphemy.

“The conference believes that the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) stand for love, peace and forbearance. Killing innocent people or denying them justice and rights on the basis of their religion or sect is not only against the teachings of Islam but also antithetic to the teachings of other religions,” it said. They also condemned the Peshawar massacre and extended their support to the government and armed forces in rooting out extremism.

The conference also urged France and other EU countries to ban papers and magazines which have printed satirical sketches of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to maintain interfaith harmony and world peace.

The conference appreciated a statement issued by Pope Francis in response to the publication of offensive cartoons urging him and other religious leaders to further bolster their efforts to ensure that all holy figures were respected.

Rasheed said that millions of Christians and Jews also disagree with the stance of Charlie Hebdo, which was encouraging. United Churches of Pakistan Bishop Bashir Nazir Alam said that Christians have equally been hurt by caricatures published in some Western publications.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.

COMMENTS (1)

Gp65 | 9 years ago | Reply

I see, so insulting those that the Ahmadis respect and making such an insult a requirement for getting a passport is not sacrilegous. Failing to allow non-Muslims to have places of worship in Muslim majority countries like KSA is okay. To say disrespectful things about kafirs or those that are not Muslims is okay. Heck even calling Shias kafir is okay, The only people whose feelings matter are Sunni Muslims.

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