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ISLAMABAD: A resolution was tabled in the National Assembly (NA) for the deportation of the French ambassador from Pakistan over the issue of blasphemous caricatures and remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.
National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser presided over the session during which MNA Amjad Ali Khan presented the resolution on Tuesday.
According to the resolution, blasphemous sketches were published by a French magazine, and then the French president’s remarks hurt the sentiments of hundreds of millions of Muslims in the name of freedom of expression.
“The House condemns the publication of insulting sketches by the controversial French magazine Charlie Hebdo and Muslims around the world had also expressed outrage at the publication of the sketches,” read the resolution.
The resolutions also asked for a debate over the issue of deporting the French ambassador and also proposed to provide spaces in different parts of the country for protests on religious issues. It added that instead of blocking roads, specific places for protests should be identified.
“All Muslim countries should be consulted on the issue and all European countries in general and France, in particular, should be made aware of the seriousness of the issue,” the resolution added.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan also moved a motion to form a parliamentary committee on the issue.
The session was adjourned by Speaker Asad Qaiser without any major inroads made and will resume on Friday, April 23, at 11 am. He called upon the government and the Opposition to sit down together in the meanwhile and formulate a unanimous resolution on the expulsion of the French envoy.
