Civilised nations should respect Muslim sentiments says Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi

Ansar M Bhatti

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday summoned French envoy Marc Barety to register protest over the anti-Islam campaign a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan denounced French President Emmanuel Macron for hurting sentiments of Muslims around the world.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also denounced the decision of the French President for allowing display of blasphemous cartoons.

 “Civilised nations should respect Muslim sentiments,” he added.

The foreign minister said he will take up the issue in the Organization of Islamic Corporation (OIC) and propose declaring March 15 a “Day of Solidarity” to honour the 2019 Christchurch attack in New Zealand.

Qureshi’s comments follow a statement by the Foreign Office ringing alarm “at highly disturbing statements by certain politicians justifying such heinous acts under the garb of freedom of expression and equating Islam with terrorism, for narrow electoral and political gains.”

French President Emmanuel Macron is being criticised with protests breaking out in several cities across the world after he accused Muslims of separatism and vowed not to give up on blasphemous caricatures.

The Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had also criticized the French President asking him to get himself medically examined.

Shujat Hamza

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Religious Harmony Maulana Tahir Ashrafi has said the issue of blasphemous caricatures will be taken up at the forum of OIC.

In a tweet on Monday, he said France has badly hurt the sentiments of Muslims in the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal. The Special Representative said Prime Minister Imran Khan has already raised the desecration of sanctities at every forum.

Tahir Ashrafi said love for holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) more than anything else in the world is part of our faith.

DNA

ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 – The European Union has allocated €1.15 million (over 220 million Pakistani Rupee) in response to the devastating monsoon rains and floods that swept across large parts of Pakistan between August and September. The funding will help address the most pressing needs of close to 175,000 people in the hardest hit provinces of the country. This is part of a multi-donor response that will support over 420,000 people.

“We stand by the people of Pakistan, many of whom have suffered tremendous losses in the wake of the floods,” said Bernard Jaspers-Faijer, head of the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Office in Islamabad. “This contribution from the EU will enable our partners on the ground to scale up their operations and deliver vital assistance to those most in need, helping them to get back on their feet at the earliest possible.”

The aid will support the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a consortium of INGOs working together in the Alliance 2015 (CESVI, ACTED and CONCERN Worldwide)  and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent in providing much-needed assistance to the most affected people. This includes the distribution of emergency food assistance, cash transfers, shelter repair toolkits, clean water supplies and other essential relief items. It will also ensure access to sanitation facilities and good hygiene practices for those hit by the floods. Special attention will be placed on the most vulnerable and marginalised groups, including female-headed households and people with disabilities.

The funding is part of the EU’s Acute Large Emergency Response Tool (ALERT) with €1 million, as well the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) with €150,000.

Background

In August, Pakistan experienced a series of severe monsoon rains which caused large-scale floods across the provinces of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, killing more than 400 people and affecting over two million others. The floods have fully destroyed more than 134,000 houses and damaged another 170,000, according to the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan. The floodwater has also left large swathes of crops in tatters and killed countless livestock, adversely affecting community food reserves and livelihoods. Due to stagnant water, fields and villages are under water for several weeks. In some areas, health facilities are still not functional, restricting access to much-needed healthcare. The most affected region is the southern province of Sindh.

EU humanitarian support in Pakistan amounts to over EUR 82 million since 2016, focusing especially on protection, healthcare, education, basic shelter, food, safe water, sanitation and hygiene to those in the greatest need. This includes people affected by conflict, (Afghan refugees, Pakistani internally displaced and returnees), host communities as well as local communities hit by COVID-19, climate induced emergencies and other natural disasters, helping to strengthen the resilience of most vulnerable local communities.

The Acute Large Emergency Response Tool (ALERT) is used to respond to large natural disasters where over 100,000 people or over 50% of the population are affected. Depending on the type of disaster, the aim is to allocate funds within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of the emergency.

The European Commission has signed a €3 million humanitarian contribution agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support the Federation’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF). Funds from the DREF are mainly allocated to “small-scale” disasters – those that do not give rise to a formal international appeal.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed for peace as a judicial panel set up to investigate police abuses in the commercial hub of Lagos begins sittings on Monday.

The investigative panel was one of the demands of the protesters who want police officers accused of abuse to be held accountable.

They also want victims of police brutality or their relatives to be compensated by the government.

Lagos state was the first of the country’s 36 states to set up a panel and has asked people to submit complaints.

In a tweet, President Buhari said the inquiry had his full support:Social embed from twitterHe said he had all along avoided going into a debate about the shootings in Lekki toll gate, a wealthy suburb in Lagos, until all the facts are established, according to statement from his office.
“The President advises that peace, brotherhood, and inter communal harmony are central to our ethos and urges Nigerians ‘not to turn against one another in hate’,” the statement said.

The investigations will start after nearly two weeks of protests across Nigeria by youths demanding police reforms and how the country is run.

President Buhari said 69 people were killed during the violent protests, including 51 civilians.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the authorities had expanded the scope of investigations to include the shooting incident at the Lekki toll gate last week Tuesday.

NEW DELHI (DNA) – India will fight not only on its own territory but also on foreign soil which becomes the source of a security threat, national security advisor Ajit Doval said in remarks that struck many as significant in the context of the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control.
Addressing the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, Doval said while India has never attacked anyone first, the new strategic thinking holds that perhaps we could have acted proactively to nip security threats. “It is not necessary that we only fight where you want to.

India will take the battle to where the threat originates,” the NSA said, summing up the doctrine of what he called “New India”.
Official sources, however, emphasised that Doval was speaking more in the context of civilisational ethos and his remarks were not directed against anyone in the current context. “We never became aggressors to serve our personal interests. We will surely fight, on our soil as well as on foreign soil, but not for our personal interests. But in the interests of Parmarth spirituality,” Doval said.
“Ours is a civilisation state. It is not based on any religion, language or sect. What cannot be seen, what is the foundation of this nation… is its culture,” he added.
However, coming on a day when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat talked about China’s encroachment, Doval’s remarks struck many as reflecting the government’s intent to apply the doctrine of pre-emption to nip security threats.
Chinese President Xi Jinping put out an equally stirring nationalistic message on the anniversary of the Korean War. “We will never sit back and allow damage to national sovereignty, security and development interests, and will never allow anyone or any force to invade and divide the sacred territory of the motherland. If such a serious situation occurs, the Chinese people will surely attack it head-on,” he said. It could have been about the US, Taiwan or India, the three big challenges to China at present.