Pakistan, as chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), on Monday urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to call on governments to take a firm stand against the publication of blasphemous cartoons in the western media. “The right to freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities, and does not provide a licence to insult and hurt the sentiments and beliefs of others,” a statement issued by the chairman of OIC in New York said.
The OIC urged the secretary-general to “call upon the governments of the states that condone the publication of these blasphemous caricatures and media material, as well as the campaigns for anti-Islamic regulations, to take all possible legal and administrative measures to prevent the repetition or continuation of these deliberate offensive acts, which impinge greatly on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, of the followers of Islam”.