Tens of thousands of people protested across Pakistan against French magazine Charlie Hebdo for reprinting the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
In 2005, as the tension in the Middle East and Europe was rising, a Danish newspaper (Jyllands-Posten) published 12 editorial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, later receiving many threats. In 2006, a French magazine Charlie Hebdo reprinted the controversial cartoons. Many terror warnings were also sent to Charlie Hebdo by various terrorist organizations.
On the 7th of January 2015, at approximately 11:30 am, gunmen forced their way into the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. In the attack, eight employees, one guest, one maintenance worker, and one officer were killed. The attackers allegedly said they were avenging the cartoon insult. On the 8th of January, French security shot down the attackers. On the 9th of January, one gunman identified as Coulibaly, who was the attacker on the 7th January incident, took hostages at a grocery store in Paris suburb. The French security was able to rescue 15 hostages, but 4 were killed. As a result of these incidents, anti-terrorism rallies with around 3.7 million people took place in France. In Paris, 40 world leaders including then French President Francois Frallande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and British PM David Cameron marched with a crowd of 1.5 million people. On the 14th of January, Charlie Hebdo released a new edition that featured the cartoon of Prophet Mohammed on the cover, holding a sign that says "Je Suis Charlie".
Most recently, on September 2nd, 2020, 14 attackers from 2015 had gone on trial and the same magazine re-published the cartoons. The OIC condemned the magazine for their use of these cartoons. Many hope the magazine is brought up at the UN.
Written by Hardik
Artwork by Zara Masood
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