Pakistan Assembly votes to call back non-existent envoy from France, netizens in splits

Pakistan’s parliament passed a resolution on October 27 over French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent comment on Islam, urging the government to recall its Ambassador from France. The resolution was introduced hours after Pakistan summoned French envoy Marc Baréty to lodge “strong protest” against Macron’s comment on radical Islamists and cartoons of Prophet Muhammad.

France has hardened its stance against radical Islam after the killing of a French teacher who showed cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in class. Macron said that the teacher, Samuel Paty, "was killed because Islamists want our future" but France would "not give up our cartoons", triggering anger in the Muslim world.

The resolution expressed “serious concern at the highly disturbing statements and hate-mongering, especially by leaders like President Macron, justifying unlawful provocation and insult to the sentiments of more than a billion Muslims”. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was reportedly one of the movers of the resolution in the National Assembly.

While several Islamic countries have called for similar measures, Pakistan’s resolution was unique since it doesn’t have an ambassador currently in France. According to local media reports, Pakistan's last ambassador to France, Moin-ul-Haq, was moved to Beijing in August and India’s neighbour has not confirmed the appointment of a new ambassador to France. The embarrassing incident gave enough ammunition to netizens to poke fun at Pakistan.

Check out some of the reactions: 

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Earlier, Pakistan had strongly condemned equating Islam with terrorism “for narrow electoral and political gains,” adding that such provocative statements and actions were fanning inter-religious hatred, hostility and confrontation. Pakistan’s Foreign Office reiterated that freedom of expression should not be misused as a “means to attack or hurt” public sentiments or religious beliefs.

“At a time of rising racism, intolerance and populism, there is a need to promote harmony among peoples and communities instead of reinforcing stereotypes and making people alienated,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

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