ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday said that by encouraging the display of blasphemous cartoons targeting Islam and Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), French President Macron had chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims, including his own citizens. “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,” the prime minister remarked in a series of tweets. Hallmark of a leader is he unites human beings, as Mandela did, rather than dividing them. This is a time when Pres Macron could have put healing touch & denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarisation & marginalisation that inevitably leads to radicalisation — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 25, 2020 Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a statement that Macron’s remarks have fueled the already tense situation. Qureshi said Islamabad, through a resolution, would suggest at the forthcoming Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to observe March 15 as an annual day against Islamophobia. “Nobody has the right to hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims in the garb of freedom of speech,” he said, urging the UN to take note of the ongoing “hateful narrative” against Islam. Earlier this month, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis,” and announced plans for tougher laws to tackle what he called “Islamist separatism” in France.