Unite Against Radicals Involved In Destablising Peace By Fanning Incitement & Religious Intolerance – OIC
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 – The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu urged world political and religious leaders to unite against fanatics and radicals involved in destabilizing global peace and security by fanning incitement and religious intolerance.
“The international community must be aware of the dangerous implications of hate speech and inciting publications and must emerge from hiding behind the excuse of freedom of expression,” he said in a statement in response to reports over the publication of insulting caricatures of Prophet Muhammad by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in its latest edition.
The secretary-general of the 57-state member organisation stressed that the international community should focus on what appeared to be deliberate, motivated and systematic abuse of this freedom that threatens peace, security and stability in the regional and global context.
He expressed shock and dismay over the reports, pointing out that the French weekly should have considered the concerns of the international community on incitement and intolerance of abuse of religious beliefs, including those expressed by French Prime Minister Jean Marc Ayrault.
He cautioned that the publication would further exacerbate the on-going global turmoil and violence due to the release of an anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims,” which has been condemned globally.
Protests against the film broke out on Sept 11 in Egypt and Libya, before spreading to other Arab and Muslim nations the following days. A related attack on the US consulate in Benghazi resulted in the deaths of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
Ihsanoglu reminded Muslims worldwide to be more patient in this testing time, and strongly urged people of all religions to unite against this despicable campaign of hate-mongering.
He also highlighted the importance of the consensual framework provided by the OIC-sponsored resolution 16/18 and the Istanbul Process for its implementation towards evolving a concerted global response to an increasing frequency of incitement of hatred and violence on religious grounds.
