The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of Islamic Cooperation Organization (OIC) is appalled by the recent repeated publication of sacrilegious caricature of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo and squarely condemns this act as an intolerant, disrespectful and manifest expression of hatred as well as insensitivity towards the feelings of more than 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, the Commission said in a statement issued today. Last week, the entire Muslim world, as well as this Commission, had expressed strong profound shock and revulsion at the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office by some errant French nationals. While condemning these acts, the Government of France as well as the international community overwhelmingly stressed the fact that the attacks had nothing to do with Islam or any other religion for that matter. However, the Commission has noted with deep regret that the first edition of Charlie Hebdo after the attack, deliberately carried the most disrespectful and provocative caricature offensive to all Muslims, thus betraying the sense of abhorrence against the attack, as well as the sympathy towards the families of those killed during the incident. Manifest stereotyping and ridiculing the most revered personality of a pristine religion is nothing but an extreme form of racial discrimination. Indeed the act has further exacerbated the existing debate on the limits of freedom of expression by converting the so-called "right to offend" into a "duty to offend". On the other hand, the magazine itself has been selective in its treatment of different values and religions. --More 14:13 LOCAL TIME 11:13 GMT تغريد
