Prime Minister Imran Khan has hit the nail on the head by reminding some western countries, Europeans in particular, about their double standards when it comes to freedom of religious and/or political expression because this debate clearly needs firmer representation from the Muslim bloc than has been the case so far. There’s no denying that nobody can be allowed to use any card, even religion, to defy the law and the constitution; and the Pakistani government did move forcefully against the religious-political party that recently caused much disruption in public life, as the PM duly pointed out. But the popular take on all this in the western press, and indeed their political circles, is very misguided and needs to be addressed. The fuss about the holocaust is just one point of this debate. For it is, after all, a bit rich of Europeans to disallow religious expression and debate while at the same time punish even the slightest mention of the terrible tragedy that befell the Jews in the second world war with prison sentences lasting many months. This is the clearest example of double standards at not the just governmental but continental level. And it is about time that the playing field is levelled, so to speak. But it goes much further than this. Prime Minister Imran Khan was right that right-wing European politicians have got into the habit of deliberately speaking against Islam and Muslims, and encouraging all such speech, purely to rally the extremist voter base. And they are also used to getting away with it. So, while Muslim communities have a duty to respect laws of every state they choose to live in, those states have an even more sacred duty to protect all rights of all minorities within their borders. PM Imran Khan has done the right thing by presenting the side of this story that is always brushed under the carpet and never given any breathing room. There are encouraging signs from the highest offices of some other countries as well, like Turkey and Malaysia, so the ball has been set rolling. Western democracies have set the standard in upholding human rights. Hopefully they will appreciate the need for extending the scope of their privileges a little bit. *