Saturday, February 11, 2006

Caricatures are Violation of Basic Human Rights ...

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, founding leader of Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI), has declared the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet (SAW) as the violation of basic human rights of believers of all religions world wide. He has condemned their publication and subsequent republication. He has said that such an act cannot be defended under the banner of freedom of speech. Respecting all religions and religious symbols is a universal right which has been breached by the publication of these caricatures. While freedom of speech is a fundamental human right, offending, insulting and defaming someone is also a breach of human rights.

Shaykh-ul-Islam announced that he will be taking up this matter with the UN, EU, OIC, governments of all member states of the UN and with all embassy missions in Islamabad. As part of this diplomatic drive, he will send a detailed memorandum of protest to all of these concerned parties all over the world. The aim will be to ensure that adequate action is taken against the newspapers and that such incidents never reoccur in the future. The memorandum will be posted on this website soon.

Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) will be holding the coming Friday as a day of protest. Peaceful walks will be arranged all over Pakistan in protest of the publication of the caricatures.

Further updates on the issue will be posted.

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