Charlie Hebdo slammed in Pakistan

Pakistan’s parliament has condemned as blasphemous the publication of a sacrilegious cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad by the French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo.

A parliamentary resolution on Thursday slammed Western media for reprinting the caricature that was originally published in the French weekly.

“This house strongly condemns [the] printing and reprinting of the blasphemous caricatures...and also takes serious note of the continued trend of their reproduction in numerous other newspapers and magazines of other Western capitals,” the resolution said.

On Wednesday, some five million copies of the new edition of the satirical magazine were sold. The magazine routinely sold 60,000 copies a week before a January 7 attack on its Paris office, during which 12 people were killed.

The incident was followed by a series of other sieges and shootings across Paris, resulting in the killing of more people and an extensive sense of insecurity in France.

“This house genuinely believes that freedom of expression should not be misused as a means to attack or hurt public sentiments and religious beliefs,” the resolution added.

Also on Thursday, people held a demonstration in the northeastern city of Lahore against the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad by Charlie Hebdo.

Charlie Hebdo is infamous for insulting Islamic sanctities, repeatedly provoking Muslim anger by publishing sacrilegious cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

The al-Qaeda branch in Yemen on Wednesday claimed full responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo. The group said it chose and supported Said and Cherif Kouachi, the two brothers who allegedly carried out the deadly assault.