KARACHI, Feb 15: Dr Gunter Mulack, Germany’s Ambassador to Pakistan, has deplored the publication of ‘ugly and insulting’ caricatures in the Danish press, and sympathized with Muslims over their victimization through the act due to which, according to him, “terrible insult was felt by the Ummah.”

He was delivering the keynote address at an inter-active seminar on Relations between the West and the Muslim World — Cooperation or Confrontation?

The seminar was organized by the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations, Economic Affairs and Law, in collaboration with the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi.

Recognizing that freedom of expression was not without a limit, Dr Mulack nevertheless said the violent protests over the blasphemy could prove to be counterproductive. He was of the view that violent protests only provided an opportunity to extremists in the West to argue that they were right in believing that Muslims were extremists.

“I don’t think it is wise to allow the people to do that,” he said, adding: “if you burn embassy, it is not going to help the cause of Islam and the Muslims,” he added.

Referring to the Quranic verses calling for restraining one’s anger, the German ambassador said that political parties must play their role in defusing the situation. “What is happening is a shame… political parties and leaders must check this tendency,” he said.

He was of the view that because so many acts of terrorism had been committed in the name of Islam, this had created a perception that Islam is a threat to the West. He said that images of Iraq also contributed to the situation. But he maintained that the silent majority of Muslims in the West and the Muslim world was not extremist and wanted dialogue for peace. The German envoy deflected a question about unilateralism a doctored threat perception being one of the causes of radicalization.

He also maintained that the negative performance by some governments in the Muslim world was also responsible for radicalization of the society and the situation.

Dr Mulack, who had earlier been engaged in the “West’s dialogue with the Muslim world” referred to the taboos in the West and the Muslim world, and emphasized the need for a vigorous dialogue, though the recent incidents had made it difficult. “But this is not impossible for a better future; for this, trust and understanding is needed… We are in a crisis situation,” he argued.

Dr Mulack observed that people in the West and the Muslim world felt threatened, and emphasized that a dialogue between secular and religious societies was needed to create more understanding and trust.

According to him, the current wave of anger is the result of the lack of trust; there are extremists on both the sides who are presenting an ugly picture.

He said that the EU was discussing how best to integrate about five million Muslims living in the member countries. An overwhelming majority of these Muslims enjoyed religious freedom and rejected violence, he added.

He advised Muslim community in the European countries to follow the legal system of the country they lived and not to resort to violence.

The German ambassador also pointed out that certain Muslim groups in France had initiated legal steps against the publication of such sketches in that country.

He stressed the need for a dialogue among cultural and political elites and involving youths in the process.

In reply to a question, he said the only way out of the unfortunate situation was to reform and strengthen the United Nations with a more equitable representation to the third world and Muslims because the world had drastically changed since 1945.

Replying another question, Dr Mulack referred to the meeting of the EU and OIC representatives in Istanbul in 2002, and observed that the two organizations had agreed to strengthen their relationship.

Dr Mulack was optimistic about the EU-OIC success in finding ways for due representation to everybody in the UN to build a system under which solutions to many pressing problems being faced by the world could be found.

He called for promotion of education, awareness and human development.

The German ambassador pointed out that his country was assisting Pakistan in establishing a technical university, probably in Karachi.

Earlier, Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi, Secretary General of the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations, called for an effective strategy to counter blasphemy and protect sanctity of Islam.

Dr Khalida Ghous, Chairman of the Department of International Relations, underlined the need for interactive dialogue for conflict resolution.