PESHAWAR, Sept 17: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday condemned the making of anti-Islam film in the US and said it was hopeful that the US government would award exemplary punishment to the filmmaker for hurting religious sentiments of Muslims all over the world.

“If those who have provoked sentiments of Muslims are not punished, then it will trouble them (Americans) around the world,” provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a news conference here.

He said if acts of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims continued, it would endanger world peace.

Mr Iftikhar said the US government should not exempt itself from awarding punishment to blasphemous filmmaker by merely saying that there was no provision of punishment for such acts in its laws.

“No Muslim can tolerate blasphemy of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Such inhuman acts can’t lower the stature of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), who is declared the greatest of the human beings even by non-Muslims,” he said.

The minister said blasphemous acts were committed by Jews during the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) but it was his teachings that Muslims should avoid hurting religious sentiments of the followers of other religions.

“Those who believe in humanity have condemned the making of the blasphemous film,” he said.

The minister urged website operators to remove blasphemous film from their portals.

“We want to convey it to the entire world that humanity faces threats from such heinous acts,” he said.

He asked all Muslims, especially those living in Pakistan, to protest against the film without damaging public property and life.

“The Jewish lobby has planned to cause unrest in Muslim countries. We will not let them succeed in their evil designs and will stay peaceful,” he said.

Mr Iftikhar said peaceful protest of the provincial government against the sacrilegious film should not be considered its weakness because it protested in line with the teachings of Islam.

He urged the federal government to take up the matter with the US through diplomatic channels and lodge a strong protest with it to ensure halt to sacrilegious acts.