Renowned Urdu poet Munawwar Rana on Saturday stood in support of the beheading of a 47-year-old French middle school history teacher Samuel Paty after the latter took a class on freedom of expression in which he showed caricatures of Prophet Muhammad from the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo to his students. Paty was decapitated outside his secondary school in a Paris suburb by an 18-year-old Islamic extremist on October 16.
Speaking to Zee News, Munawwar Rana said, "Agar abhi koi shaksh mere baap ka cartoon koi aisa bana de ganda, mera maa ka cartoon koi aisa ganda bana de to hum toh usko maar denge (If someone makes an offensive caricature of my father or my mother then I will kill him)."
Rana added, "Agar koi hamare Hindustan main hamare kisi devi-devta ka, maa Sita ka, ya bhagwan Ram ka aisa koi cartoon bana de ki ganda ho, toh hum usko maar denge (If in India someone makes an offensive caricature about our Gods and Goddesses then I will kill him)."
According to a report in DNA, Munawwar Rana also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that his support for France is because of the Rafael deal with the European country.
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condemned the recent terror acts in France, including the heinous attack in Nice inside a church, in which three people were killed and several others injured.
"Our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the people of France," PM Modi said. "India stands with France in the fight against terrorism," he added.
