ISLAMABAD: The upper House of the Parliament on Monday unanimously passed a resolution to condemn the "latest attempt of illegal and Islamophobic acts of republication of the caricatures of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in France," while lawmakers from different political parties slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for "inciting hatred against the Muslims by promoting Islamophobia."
Presiding over the Senate session, Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani directed that a copy of the resolution be sent by Foreign Office to the French ambassador in Pakistan.
"The Senate of Pakistan taking cognizance of recurring systematic patterns of Islamophobia and attacks on Islam and Muslims under the garb of freedom of expression, strongly condemns the latest attempt of illegal and Islamophobic acts of republication of the caricatures of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in France believing that such condemnable acts, specially, when supported by governments, further accentuate discord, alienation and divide between the followers of different faiths," reads the resolution presented by Leader of the House in Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem.
According to the resolution, the Senate "Reaffirms that the love for our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) is beyond any doubt a part of our faith and no Muslim can tolerate such horrendous acts. Representing the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and the Muslim world as a whole, the Senate expresses serious concerns over such vile incidents which provoke Muslims reaction while also causing grievous injury to the Muslims' sentiments." The resolution strongly urges the parliaments and the international community to come up with a framework, and needs to stop recurrence of such acts in future so as to ensure peaceful coexistence as well as social and interfaith harmony.
Speaking on the floor of the House, the lawmakers minced no words to take on France and its president for promoting Islamophobia and inciting hatred towards Muslims.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noor-ul-Haq Qadri said the act of republication of blasphemous caricatures in France has hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the globe. "The entire Muslim world is outraged and has strongly condemned this detestable act while French government is patronizing Islamophobia. But the way two leaders of Muslim world; the prime minister of Pakistan and president of Turkey, have taken on the French president and strongly condemned his actions is more than remarkable," he said.
"This man (French president) is not in his senses. No sane person who heads a country would stoop so low so as to target the people of one particular faith," said Mushtaq Ahmed.
Siraj-ul-Haq recommended that Muslims across the globe boycott French products and French ambassador to Pakistan be expelled, as, he said France was habitually patronizing Islamophobia at the state-level.
Other senators including Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Azam Khan Swati, Barrister Muhammad Javed Abbasi, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh, Molvi Faiz Muhammad, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Muhammad Khalid Bizenjo, Mushahid Ullah Khan, Atta-ur-Rehman, Faisal Javed Khan, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, Kulsoom Parveen, Mohsin Aziz among others strongly condemned France and French president over republication of blasphemous caricatures and Islamophobia.
The Senate also unanimously passed another resolution "expressing full solidarity with the popular, spontaneous, indigenous and widespread uprising of the heroic people of Indian illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir." The resolution terms October 27 as a Black Day in the history of the Kashmiri people "since it was on October 27, 1947 that the Indian troops landed in Srinagar and forcibly occupied Jammu and Kashmir."
The Senate of Pakistan, the resolution said taking note of successive United Nations Security Council Resolutions in this regard, resolutely rejects the illegal Indian occupation of Kashmir which is the root cause of the Kashmir problem for the last 73 years. "This brutal Indian occupation based on falsehood, fear and force, is primarily responsible for the miserable plight of the struggling Kashmiri children, women and men who have been forced to remain part of India under the diktat of bullets, bayonets and bombs. India has falsified and forged a document which it terms as an Instrument of Accession' and this forgery has been unmasked by respected international historians since it is used to justify and defend the indefensible."
Through the resolution, the Senate "wishes to reaffirm the complete and unconditional support of Pakistan and its people to the just cause of the inalienable right of self-determination of the people of Indian illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions that seek a plebiscite under UN auspices to ascertain the wishes of the Kashmiri people regarding their future. Moreover, the Senate strongly condemns the Modi regime in India for following policies based on bigotry and Islamophobia that seek to divide society and promote discrimination against the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of their ethnicity and religion. The Senate of Pakistan condemns the illegal attempts at annexation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the illegal attempts to change the demography and also thanks all those countries, international organisations and freedom-loving people for their support and sympathy for the Kashmir cause, which will continue its valiant struggle until victory."
Dr Shahzad Waseem, Sherry Rehman, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Sirajul Haq, Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh, Usman Khan Kakar, Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Sitara Ayaz presented the resolution.
Senate would meet again on Thursday at 10:30am
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed.