ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday welcomed remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin who said that insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) doesn’t count as the expression of artistic freedom.
Taking to Twitter, the premier wrote: “I welcome President Putin’s statement which reaffirms my message that insulting our Holy Prophet PBUH is not ‘freedom of expression’”.
I welcome President Putin's statement which reaffirms my message that insulting our Holy Prophet PBUH is not " freedom of expression". We Muslims, esp Muslim leaders, must spread this message to leaders of the non-Muslim world to counter Islamophobia. https://t.co/JUKKvRYBSx
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 24, 2021
He urged the Muslim leaders to spread “this message to leaders of the non-Muslim world to counter Islamophobia”.
Putting while addressing his annual news conference said that insults to the Prophet are a “violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam,” according to TASS news.
The Russian president highlighted that such acts trigger extremist reprisals, citing as an example the attack on the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris after it published blasphemous sketches of the prophet.
He also criticized posting photos of Nazis on websites such as the one titled the Immortal Regiment and dedicated to Russians that died in World War Two.
While praising artistic freedom in general, Putin said it has its limits and it shouldn’t infringe on other freedoms.
Russia has evolved as a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state, so Russians, he said, are used to respecting each other’s traditions. In some other countries, this respect comes in short supply, he said.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/rising-wave-of-islamophobia-in-france/
