Islamic body demands laws against 'Islamophobia' - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The world's largest Islamic body has called for expressions of 'Islamophobia' to be curbed by law. Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the 56 countries that form the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), condemned the anti-Islamic film made by an Israeli-American that portrays Prophet Mohammad as a fraud, womanizer and a child molester. The film created a furore across the Islamic world this month. "Incidents like this clearly demonstrate the urgent need on the part of states to introduce adequate protection against acts of hate crimes, hate speech, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation and negative stereotyping of religions, and incitement to religious hatred, as well as denigration of venerated personalities," The Express Tribune quoted Pakistan 's ambassador Zamir Akram, as saying. Akram said the crudely made video, as well as the burning of the Quran and the publication of defamatory cartoons, amount to "deliberate attempts to discriminate, defame, denigrate and vilify Muslims and their beliefs". He said such acts constitute "flagrant incitement to violence" and are not protected by freedom of expression. "Islamophobia has to be treated in law and practice equal to the treatment given to anti-Semitism, especially in legislations," he said. It was urgent to "establish an internationally acceptable threshold between freedom of expression and incitement to violence and hatred," Akram added. The Obama administration has condemned the film - Innocence of Muslims - as "disgusting". But Western countries remain determined to resist restrictions on freedom of speech and have already voiced disquiet about the repressive effect of blasphemy laws in Muslim countries such as Pakistan.

International Islamic body demands laws against 'Islamophobia'