In a series of tweets, Imran Khan said the remark would sow division (File)
Islamabad:
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “attacking Islam” after the European leader criticized Islamists and defended the publication of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed.
Mr Khan’s comments follow statements Ms Macron made last week after the beheading of a French teacher near Paris after showing cartoons of the prophet during a course he was leading on freedom expression.
Mr Macron said the professor “was killed because the Islamists want our future”.
In a series of tweets, Mr Khan said the remark would be divisive.
“This is a time when President Macron could have provided a touch of healing and denied space to extremists rather than creating more polarization and marginalization that inevitably leads to radicalization,” Khan wrote.
“It is unfortunate that he chose to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than terrorists who commit violence, whether they are Muslims, white supremacists or Nazi ideologues . “
Mr Macron already sparked controversy earlier this month by declaring that “Islam is a religion in crisis all over the world“.
The French teacher has become the target of an online hate campaign over his choice of course material – the same footage that sparked a bloody attack by Islamist gunmen on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the publisher original, in January 2015.
Muhammad cartoons are prohibited by Islam.
Blasphemy is an explosive problem in ultra-conservative Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty.
“By attacking Islam, obviously without having any understanding of it, President Macron has attacked and hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims in Europe and around the world,” Khan said.
In a speech at the United Nations last month, Mr. Khan, a populist leader known to play with Pakistan’s hard religious base, criticized Charlie Hebdo for reposting the cartoons, saying “willful provocations” should be “universally prohibited. “.
Several Muslim countries have called for a boycott of French products.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
