Close X
Sunday, January 26, 2025
ADVT 
International

Dutch Anti-Islam Lawmaker Cancels Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Contest

Darpan News Desk IANS, 31 Aug, 2018 02:28 PM
    Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has cancelled a scheduled Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in the capital here in November following widespread protest in Pakistan that raised concerns over security to the participants.
     
     
    The far-right opposition Dutch lawmaker, who for years has lived under round-the-clock protection because of death threats sparked by his fierce anti-Islam rhetoric, cancelled the event following concerns of extreme threat after a 26-year-old Pakistani man was arrested who allegedly planned an attack on Wilders.
     
     
    "To avoid the risk of victims of Islamic violence, I have decided not to let the cartoon contest go ahead," Geert Wilders said in a written statement, noting he did not want others endangered by the contest he had planned for November.
     
     
    The contest was to have been held at the tightly guarded offices of his Party for Freedom in the Dutch parliament building.
     
     
    "It's not just about me," Wilders, who has a history of inflammatory statements about Islam, said in the statement. Strong opponents of the event "see not only me, but the entire Netherlands as a target".
     
     
    He followed up the statement later on Thursday with a tweet saying: "Islam showed its true face once again with death threats, fatwas and violence. However, the safety and security of my fellow countrymen comes first."
     
     
    The Dutch government had been at pains to distance itself from the contest. Prime Minister Mark Rutte last week questioned Wilders' motive for organising the contest.
     
     
    "His aim is not to have a debate about Islam. His aim is to be provocative," Rutte said.
     
     
    The planned contest sparked a death threat this week from a 26-year-old man, reportedly a Pakistani, who was arrested Tuesday in The Hague.
     
     
    On Wednesday, thousands of Islamists set off on a protest march to Pakistan's capital Islamabad demanding Imran Khan's new government sever diplomatic ties with the Netherlands over the "blasphemous" competition.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Five Homes Evacuated As Massive Boulder Rolls Into Fraser Valley Community

    Five Homes Evacuated As Massive Boulder Rolls Into Fraser Valley Community
    AGASSIZ, B.C. — Five homes have been evacuated in British Columbia's Fraser Valley over concerns about the stability of a giant boulder that slid down into a residential community last month.

    Five Homes Evacuated As Massive Boulder Rolls Into Fraser Valley Community

    Indian Techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla Murder: Ex-US Navy Veteran Adam Purinton Pleads Not Guilty

    A former US Navy veteran charged with killing an Indian engineer and injuring two others in a racially motivated hate crime at a bar in Kansas city earlier this year has pleaded not guilty.

    Indian Techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla Murder: Ex-US Navy Veteran Adam Purinton Pleads Not Guilty

    Madhya Pradesh Assembly Passes Bill On Death For Rapists Of Girls 12 And Below

    Madhya Pradesh Assembly Passes Bill On Death For Rapists Of Girls 12 And Below
    With the passage of the bill, Madhya Pradesh becomes the first state in the country where those convicted of such rapes will face the gallows.

    Madhya Pradesh Assembly Passes Bill On Death For Rapists Of Girls 12 And Below

    Kamala Harris, Indian-American Senator From California Tops Global Thinkers' List

    Kamala Harris, Indian-American Senator From California Tops Global Thinkers' List
    US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj have also made it to the list which recognises a remarkable range of individuals who have found ways to exert enormous influence, often in unexpected ways, on a wide range of issues.

    Kamala Harris, Indian-American Senator From California Tops Global Thinkers' List

    Indian-Origin Wall Street Executive Rohina Bhandari Killed In Costa Rica Shark Attack

    Indian-Origin Wall Street Executive Rohina Bhandari Killed In Costa Rica Shark Attack
    She was dragged from the Pacific Ocean but could not be saved. Her 26-year-old diving instructor was also badly injured in last Thursday's attack.

    Indian-Origin Wall Street Executive Rohina Bhandari Killed In Costa Rica Shark Attack

    4 Charged In $3.5 Mn-Fraud 'Likely' Linked To India

    4 Charged In $3.5 Mn-Fraud 'Likely' Linked To India
    Four men of Indian descent have been charged in a $3.5 million-fraud in which they pretended to be tax officials and collected money by allegedly threatening over 7,300 people, a federal prosecutor has announced.

    4 Charged In $3.5 Mn-Fraud 'Likely' Linked To India