LAHORE - Countrywide protest demonstrations continued on Sunday against the blasphemous actions of a satirical French magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
In Lahore, Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool arranged a huge rally from Nasir Bagh to Masjid-e-Shuhda on TheMall. Addressing the gathering, Jamaatud Daawa chief Hafiz Saeed stressed upon the Muslim world to boycott French commodities in a protest against the publication of sacrilegious caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PUBH) by Charlie Hebdo.
Carrying placards and banners, the participants expressed the anger against the French government and United Nations which has, so far, taken no steps to stop the acts of hate and violence against the Muslims of entire world.
Hafiz Saeed, on the occasion, demanded death plenty for the blasphemers. “United Nation should declare blasphemy as terrorism and pass an intentional law against that and if the UN failed to do so then the Muslim countries should sever ties with it and developed a separate Muslim union,” he added.
He was of the view that legislation against blasphemy was much more important than the war against terrorism. “Blasphemy is the biggest terrorism in the world. It is actually the terrorism against 1.5 billion Muslims,” he viewed and warned that there will be no peace in the world if adequate international laws were not framed against the blasphemy.
The JuD chief said that Pakistan had been established in the name of Islam and protest resolution passed by the National Assembly against the blasphemous caricatures was not enough rather practical steps were required to stop this biggest terrorism against Muslims. He also called upon the government to raise the issue at all forms on international level effectively.
He demanded that Pakistani government should raise the issue at the platform of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The international community must ensure that such caricatures would not be published again, he added.
Saeed blamed that the United States of America were supporting such sacrilegious activities to avenge its defeat in Afghanistan. He said that Muslims had initiated worldwide movement to safeguard the sanctity of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and this movement would bring Islamic revolution across the world.
He announced that Hurmat-e-Rasool marches would be held across the country on Jan 23, 2015 and all religious and political parties would take part. Similarly, a grand march will be taken out in Karachi this 25th, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Jamaat Ahl-e-Hadith leader Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor demanded from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to sever all kinds of diplomatic and economic ties with France and declare war against it.
Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool Chairman Mulana Amir Hamza said that the west had declared war against Muslims as 40 European countries were united to show solidarity with the blasphemous caricatures. He said that these blasphemous caricatures had hurt the emotions and religious sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world.
Jamaat-e-Islami central leader Maulana Abdul Malik laid a stress on promoting unity and integration among Muslim countries to foil the conspiracies of the West against Islam. Leaders of all 20 religious and political parties of Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool addressed the protest march.