OIC-IPHRC condemns Dutch parliamentarian to hold blasphemous competition

ISLAMABAD, Aug 28 (APP):The Organization of Islamic Cooperation Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission
(OIC-IPHRC) has condemned the malicious plan of the Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders to hold an international blasphemous competition later this year.
It called upon the Dutch Government to take immediate steps to prevent this sacrilegious transgression, which has affected the religious sensitivities of over 1.6 billion Muslims around the world.
“The event, if permitted to take place, has the potential to inflame / promote a culture of intolerance and incitement to hatred. Such acts also result in a wider sense of alienation, rejection, and polarization among affected communities leading to discrimination and violence, an antithesis to the coveted ideals of multiculturalism and pluralism,” OIC Commission in a press statement Tuesday said.
It demanded of the Dutch government to take immediate steps to prevent this event to protect the religious and cultural sensitivities of its own and the wider international Muslim population as well as to preserve the societal harmony and ideals of tolerance and multiculturalism that were the hallmark of Dutch society.
While squarely condemning these coordinated and often repeated acts of incitement to religious hatred/discrimination, the Commission urged the Muslims around the world to continue to exercise restraint in their reaction to such malicious provocations, which were squarely intended to incite racial/ religious hatred, discrimination and violence under the garb of freedom of expression.
The Commission regarded the freedom of expression as a key human right, which was vital for development of stable, peaceful and progressive democratic societies.
However, the scope of freedom of expression, as provided in the Article 19 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and more importantly Articles 19 & 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), clearly stipulated that it was not an absolute freedom/right, exercise of which carried with it ‘special duties and responsibilities’ to ensure societal cohesion, as well as respect for the right and reputation of others.
“The planned sacrilegious competition is a manifest attempt to ridicule the most revered personality of a pristine religion and a willful endeavour to incite religious hatred and discrimination against Muslims, again a clear violation of the Article 20(2) of ICCPR,” it added.
The OIC-IPHRC further emphasized that growing xenophobia, intolerance and hatred in Europe in particular and the world at large could only be countered through promotion of tolerance, respect for cultural and religious diversity and enhanced interfaith and intercultural dialogue at all levels.