ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday raised the issue of blasphemous caricatures with his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok.
In a telephonic conversation, the foreign minister underscored that the abominable act of a Dutch parliamentarian is provoking and has hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world. He said such acts spread hatred and intolerance.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad this evening, Qureshi said Pakistan has written letters to six countries of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to develop a unified stance of the Muslim world on the blasphemous cartoon competition in the Netherlands.
He said a letter has also been sent to the OIC Secretary General for convening an emergency meeting of the committee of the OIC representatives on the issue.
The foreign minister said the government has also raised the matter with the United Nations General Secretary, Human Rights Council of the UN, European Union, and other relevant forums.
He said the issue will also be taken up at the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers to be held on the sidelines of upcoming UN General Assembly session in New York next month.
Qureshi said he, as a democrat, believes in freedom of expression, but this freedom should also have limits, which should not be crossed.
The minister said he called the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands and conveyed the sentiments of Pakistan government and people over the matter.
He said the Dutch foreign minister assured him that his government has nothing to do with the competition and it was a matter of an individual.
