Although last week’s attack on French satirical magazine Charlie
Hebdo sparked global outrage, dozens of people in Pakistan’s
northwestern city of Peshawar paid tribute today to the brothers who
carried out the murders.
Though small in scale, the event was indicative of the anger that
portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad can ignite in some parts of the
Muslim world, particularly in Pakistan where tough blasphemy laws make
insulting the Prophet a crime punishable by death.
Local cleric Maulana Pir Mohammad Chishti led some 60 people in
prayers for Cherif and Said Kouachi, who shot dead 12 people at the
magazine’s offices on January 7, as worshippers called the pair
“martyrs”.
They also chanted “Death to Hebdo publications” and “Long live Cherif
Kouachi, long live Said Kouachi”, and kissed posters of the brothers
who were shot dead by police two days later.
“These two brothers have paid the debt of all Muslims in the world and we present them our salute and respect,” Chishti said.
Aurangzeb Alhafi, professor of Islamic Studies at Punjab University
in the eastern city of Lahore said he attended the prayers as a
religious duty.
“If freedom of expression stops at the mention of the Holocaust, then
it should also stop at the honour of our Prophet,” Alhafi said.
Charlie Hebdo meanwhile has announced it will defy the attackers by
putting a cartoon of a weeping Prophet Muhammad on its next cover.
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