Dutch Anti-Islam Lawmaker Revives Plan for Sacrilegious Cartoon Contest

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders on Saturday said he had revived his plan to hold a contest for cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), more than a year after cancelling such an event out of fear for attacks in the Netherlands.

In a post on Twitter late on Saturday, Wilders called on people to send in their cartoons.

“Freedom of speech must prevail over violence and Islamic fatwa’s”, the leader of the largest opposition party in the Dutch parliament wrote, Reuters reported.

Wilders canceled a similar contest in August last year after police arrested a man who had threatened to kill him over his plan.

At the time, plans to hold the contest also prompted large demonstrations in Pakistan, organized by Muslim party Tehreek-e-Labbaik, which called on Islamic countries to sever all ties with the Netherlands.

Images of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are traditionally forbidden in Islam as idolatrous. Caricatures are regarded by most Muslims as highly offensive.