Why is it a crime to raise doubts about Holocaust, asks Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khameini

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Web Desk
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October 28, 2020

After PM Imran Khan and Erdogan, Iran's Khomeini calls out French President Emmanuel Macron

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khameini speaks during an event. Photo: AFP

Iran's current Supreme Leader Ali Khameini questioned the dual standards around gagging media when it comes to questioning the Holocaust but not doing the same when the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was insulted.

Read more: PM Imran Khan urges Muslim leaders to break the cycle of hate, extremism

"Does freedom of expression mean insulting, especially a sacred personage?"asked Khameini on Twitter Wednesday. "Ask your President why he supports insulting God’s Messenger in the name of freedom of expression. Isn’t this stupid act an insult to the reason of the ppl who elected him?"

Khameini then called out the blatant hypocrisy surrounding freedom of speech when doubting the Holocaust was concerned.

"The next question to ask is: why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust? Why should anyone who writes about such doubts be imprisoned while insulting the Prophet (pbuh) is allowed?" he tweeted again.

Khameini is the third prominent Muslim world leader who has criticised the French president for his anti-Islam statements and support for blasphemous cartoons insulting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Read more: PM Imran Khan slams French President Macron, says he 'deliberately provoked' Muslims

Macron's comments came in response to the beheading of Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old teacher, who was attacked on his way home from the junior high school where he taught in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 40 kilometres northwest of Paris.

The teacher had shown cartoons disrespecting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), according to media reports.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and Turkey's President Erdogan have both called out Emmanuel Macron for promoting Islamophobia.

PM Imran Khan had said on Tuesday that no one should be allowed to disrespect Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the name of freedom of expression.

Last week, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had called for a boycott of French goods citing Macron’s anti-Islam agenda. “What is the problem of this person called Macron with Muslims and Islam? Macron needs treatment on a mental level,” Erdogan had said in a speech in the central Turkish city of Kayseri.

“What else can be said to a head of state who does not understand freedom of belief and who behaves in this way to millions of people living in his country who are members of a different faith?”

PM Imran Khan slams French President Macron, says he 'deliberately provoked' Muslims


In a series of tweets on Saturday, PM Imran Khan, while presenting examples of the iconic leader Nelson Mandela, said that this is a time when President Macron could have put the healing touch and denied space to extremists rather than "creating further polarisation and marginalisation that inevitably leads to radicalisation".

"It is unfortunate that he has chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists. Sadly, President Macron has chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims, incl his own citizens, through encouraging the display of blasphemous cartoons targeting Islam and our Prophet (PBUH), the premier wrote on Twitter.



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