Imran Khan lauds Putin for discouraging insult of religious figures
Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan held a telephonic conversation with the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
PM Imran Khan appreciated the Russian president for detaching freedom of speech & insulting Prophet Muhammad.
On Twitter, Prime Minister Khan stated that Putin is the first Western leader to demonstrate empathy and understanding to Muslim sentiments for their Prophet.
He went on to say about the conversation they had to improve commerce and collaboration between Pakistan and Russia. The two leaders also extended invitations to each other for exchange of visits.
On the 23rd of December last year, in his annual news conference, President Vladimir Putin had said that disrespecting the Holy Prophet Muhammad is not free speech.
“Why offend the Prophet Muhammad? Is this an act of artistic freedom? I do not think so. This is a violation of the freedom of worship, which offends the rights of the people who practice Islam, which leads to other, even more radical and extremist manifestations. Take, for example, Charlie Hebdo – they went to Paris and killed an entire editorial staff. We must make sure this does not go that far, right? This freedom needs to come from within and be rooted in respecting all those who might be affected by any extreme actions,” he stated in the conference.
It’s important to note that PM Imran Khan has been among the few world leaders to raise the issue of Islamophobia & the unfair use of freedom of speech on multiple global forums including the United Nations.
“We stress that willful provocations and incitement to hate and violence must be universally outlawed,” Khan said, in his 2021 UNGA speech. “This assembly should declare an ‘International Day to Combat Islamophobia’ and build a coalition to fight this scourge.”
