ISLAMABAD, Dec 25, (Asia Free Press): Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement about the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), saying it, “reaffirmed his message that insulting our Holy Prophet (PBUH) is not freedom of expression.”
“We Muslims, especially Muslim leaders, must spread this message to leaders of the non-Muslim world to counter Islamophobia,” Imran Khan said in a tweet posted on his verified social media account after Putin’s statement went viral on media across the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that insulting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) does not count as an expression of artistic freedom but is a “violation of religious freedom.”
Putin made these remarks during his annual press conference in Moscow a day ago, adding that insults to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) were a violation of “the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam”.
Russian president also criticised the publication of blasphemous sketches of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Charlie Hebdo had published the blasphemous sketches in 2015, prompting condemnation from Muslims across the world.
Earlier this year, a history teacher in France was beheaded after he had shown the caricatures in his class. In a ceremony dedicated to the teacher, French President Emmanuel Macron had vowed not to “give up [the] cartoons” and also made contentious remarks against “Islamists”, who he said “want our future”.
The caricatures were then also projected onto the façade of a building in one city and at protests around the country.
The move and the French president’s remarks had drawn criticism from the Muslim World.
