Iran Press/ Europe: Condemning The Lady of Heaven as blasphemous, Muslim groups protested outside UK movie houses this week, forcing the world’s second-largest cinema chain to cancel all screenings.
Cineworld’s announcement came after Qari Asim, an imam and lawyer in the northern English city of Leeds, posted on Facebook on Monday that the film had “caused much pain and hurt to Muslims”.
While noting that his own group had not taken part in protests, and expressing support for freedom of speech, Asim publicized details of one protest in Leeds coming up that evening.
In a letter to Asim, the government claimed that the Facebook post was incompatible with his status as deputy chair of an official working group on anti-Muslim hatred.
The UK government said the campaign against the film “has led to street protests which have fomented religious hatred.
There was no immediate comment from Asim, who also served as an independent adviser to the government on Islamophobia until his dismissal.
This divisive film pretends that ISIS originated from the Sunnis.
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