Cancellation of Dutch caricature contest is moral victory: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said it was a great moral victory of the entire Muslim Ummah that the Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders cancelled plans to hold a contest of blasphemous caricatures.

Wilders’ plan to hold the blasphemous event at his PVV party’s offices in parliament stirred extreme anger among the Muslims, particularly in Pakistan.

Qureshi, in a media talk, said the new government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf immediately after coming into power raised the issue internationally at all foras. He said the Parliament unanimously passed a resolution condemning the plans to hold the blasphemous caricature contest. He said the minority members were at the forefront in condemning this heinous act.

He said he discussed the matter with his counterparts from important Capitals and it was agreed to use the platform of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to present a unanimous stance and seek an end to repeat of such sacrilegious acts.

The Foreign Minister also recalled his phone call to the Dutch Foreign Minister and said he was informed that an act of an individual should not be allowed to hurt the sentiments of billions of Muslims across the globe.

However, he attributed the success to the blessings of Allah and said the cancellation has averted a major crisis. He said the Pakistani government fully endorses the sentiments of every Muslim, the religious scholars and Ulema.

Earlier Prime Minister Imran Khan in a video message assured that his government would use the OIC platform to raise the issue at the United Nations and seek a permanent solution to such acts that hurt the sentiments of the Muslims.

The TLP leadership later yesterday announced end of the long March of thousands of people that had entered Rawalpindi late Thursday night, from Lahore.