Blasphemous cartoons: Pakistan registers protest with Holland

Islamabad: Taking serious note of planned anti-Islam cartoon contest, Pakistan has expressed displeasure over it. Pakistan’s new foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke to his Dutch counterpart on Tuesday and said, “Such acts spread hate and intolerance”.

It must be noted that the Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders has planned a contest in which caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) are to be exhibited.

Showing displeasure over the proposed contest, Qureshi said that the planned event would hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world, Pakistani foreign office statement said. Qureshi has planned to take up the issue with several world leaders, including United Nations and the European Union.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s upper house of parliament has also condemned the contest on Monday. Prime Minister Imran Khan said: “They don’t understand how much they hurt us when they do such acts.”

A protest march will also be organised by Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan against the contest on Wednesday.