Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday called upon the western governments to penalize those elements who had been deliberately spreading message of hate against Muslims by using the same standards with which they had outlawed any negative comments on holocaust.
The prime minister, on his Twitter handle, also demanded an apology from those extremists in the West who under the garb of freedom of speech had hurt 1.3 billion Muslims by their blasphemous acts against Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).
The prime minister in a clear message to extremists abroad who indulged in Islamophobia and racist slurs to hurt and cause pain to 1.3 billion Muslims across the globe, said, “We Muslims have the greatest love & respect for our Prophet PBUH who lives in our hearts. We cannot tolerate any such disrespect. I also call on Western govts. who have outlawed any negative comment on the holocaust to use the same standards to penalize those deliberately spreading their message of hate against Muslims by disrespecting (blaspheming) our (Holy) Prophet Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH).”
“Those in the West, incl (including) 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. We demand an apology from these extremists,” he further posted.
The prime minister also made it clear that government took action against Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a banned organization, under anti-terrorist laws when it challenged the writ of the state as no one could be above the law. “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. No one can be above the law and the Constitution,” he said in a related tweet.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said declaration of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) as a proscribed organization is purely an internal decision of Pakistan.
Talking to the media persons at District Headquarters Hospital after inquiring after health of injured police personnel, he out rightly rejected any foreign pressure on the issue of TLP. He said the government had handled the protest of the TLP in the best possible manner and the situation had normalized now across the country.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had already issued a statement and tweet in which he had appreciated the bravery of police and law enforcement agencies. He said that the government had to close social media for a few hours but it was inevitable to counter the tactics of the miscreants.
He said every Muslim is ready to sacrifice his life for the honour of the Holy Prophet SAW but anybody using this issue for getting political mileage is unfortunate. In the past, foreign hand was found in sectarian violence in Karachi and nobody can rule out hand of enemy countries in the recent violence in the name of religion, he said.
The minister said few parties may have been playing in the hands of the enemy and such incidents could weaken the country.
Fawad announced that leader Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) Rana Sanaullah had threatened Chief Secretary Punjab, Commissioner and other officers on Friday and a case would be registered against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the related laws for which instructions were being given. He said no one could be allowed to intimidate government officials and their family members. “If he wants to do politics, he has to do so within the limits of the constitution and respect the law. Often Rana is interested to act like Altaf Hussain. If there will be insulting talk about the institutions, or the officers be threatened or institutions to be blackmailed, then surely there will be action,” he said.
The minister said there was no plan to demolish any house in Jati Umrah but nobody would be allowed to occupy government land illegally. He pointed out that the government came to know that government land was transferred in the name of an old woman in Jati Umrah, who was benami and just her name was used and then the land was transferred in the name of Nawaz Sharif’s mother. “And there was the issue of open occupation on which the Revenue Department declared that the land had been given illegally,” he said, adding that notices were served and the related procedure was being adopted to recover the land and the other side had the right to challenge the process and they had done so.
