Kabulis want Charlie Hebdo cartoonists punished

KABUL (Pajhwok): A large number of people rallied in Kabul on Thursday against the republication of blasphemous cartoons by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, seeking severe punishment for the perpetrators.

Charlie Hebdo printed the sacrilegious drawings after an armed attack on its office left 12 cartoonists dead. An Al Qaeda group in Yemen had claimed responsibility for that attack.

The republication of the caricatures fuelled anger among Muslims across the world, where several protests have been staged in recent weeks.

On Thursday, more than 100 people chanted slogans against the sacrilegious act in front of the French embassy in Kabul. They denounced France as a killer, warning against insult to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Abdul Saboor Fakhri, head of the Jamiat-i-Islah who also participated in the rally, said that Muslims were stout supporters of peace; otherwise they would have set the French embassy on fire.

Without naming anyone, he accused anti-Islamic forces of trying to portray Muslims as terrorists. Such elements themselves were against peace, he said.

Another protestor, Rafi Sahak, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Charlie Hebdo cartoonists should be punished and the French government should stop it from committing the outrage in future.

Previously, Afghan civil society organisations and residents of several provinces staged similar protests, asking the Afghan government to shut down the French embassy.

mds/mud

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