AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A large number of Pakistani lawyers held a protest demonstration in Islamabad on Thursday against blasphemous sketches published by Charlie Hebdo magazine and the anti-Islamic stance of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The rally was taken out on ‘Jinnah Avenue’ of Islamabad and ended in front of the building of the Ministry for foreign affairs near the French Embassy.
Participants from different bar associations chanted slogans against the French President over his anti-Islam remarks, western societies and demanded the closure of the French embassy in Pakistan.
Today's demonstration was held under tight security because it was feared that hundreds of angry demonstrators would enter the diplomatic enclave and gather or hold a sit-in in front of the French Embassy.
Meanwhile, the heads of the bar associations, during their speeches at the rally, called for serious action by the Pakistani government against the wave of Islamophobia in Europe saying the enemies of Islam and their agents in Europe should be responded to by closing the French Embassy or expelling its ambassador.
The protesters tried to enter the diplomatic enclave despite tight police security measures and the deployment of special forces to secure the French Embassy.
At the end of the anti-French demonstration, a resolution was adopted by senior Pakistani lawyers and handed over to the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan at the rally.
Pakistani lawyers called on international institutions to check the abuse of the freedom of expression law in Western societies, emphasizing the strong and united voice of the Islamic world against those who insult the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
On November 29, hundreds of people in Islamabad protested against the insult to Islamic shrines in the red zone of the city, however, the demonstration turned violent with the intervention of a large number of security forces.
Pakistan's Minister of Religious Affairs, meanwhile, said he would strongly support legal action against the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo and the Paris government in the international courts.
.....................................
End/ 257
source : IRNA
Friday
13 November 2020
12:34:43 PM
1085756
Pakistani lawyers protest against anti-Islamic stance of French President
A large number of Pakistani lawyers held a protest demonstration in Islamabad on Thursday against blasphemous sketches published by Charlie Hebdo magazine and the anti-Islamic stance of French President Emmanuel Macron.