Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
25-12-2021
Bureau Report + Agencies
MOSCOW/ ISLAMABAD: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said insulting Prophet OF Islam (PBUH) does not count as freedom of expression.
Insults to the prophet are a “violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam”, Putin said on Thursday during his annual news conference, Russian News Agency TASS reported.
Putin also criticized posting photos of Nazis on websites such as the one titled the Immortal Regiment dedicated to Russians that died in World War-II.
Putin said these acts give rise to extremist reprisals, citing as an example the attack on the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris after its publication of cartoons of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH).
While praising artistic freedom in general, Putin said it has its limits and it should not infringe on other freedoms.
Russia has evolved as a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state, so Russians, he said, are used to respecting each other’s traditions.
In some other countries, this respect comes in short supply, Putin said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his statement that insulting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is not “freedom of expression”.
“I welcome President Putin’s statement, which reaffirms my message that insulting our Holy Prophet (PBUH) is not ‘freedom of expression’,” the prime minister said in a tweet.
The prime minister said Muslims and especially their leaders must spread this message to leaders of the non-Muslim world to counter Islamophobia, he added.
Earlier, according to Russian news agency TASS, Putin said on Thursday insulting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) does not count as freedom of expression.
Putin’s views came during his annual press conference, during which he stressed the importance of “artistic freedom without hindrance to religious freedom”.
Insults to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are a “violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam,” Putin said.
The Russian president also expressed his disapproval of websites posting photos of Nazis.
TASS, quoting Putin, said that such acts “give rise to extremist reprisals”, an example of which is the attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris after it published blasphemous cartoons of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
Putin praised artistic freedom in general, but warned that it is one that has its limits and must never infringe on other freedoms.
The Russian president, according to the publication, said his country has “evolved as a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state”, adding that its people “are used to respecting each other’s traditions”.
Such respect is not found in the same measure in some other countries, Putin remarked.
