Opinion poll on blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)

The blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and later in some other European countries led to strong and bitter reaction and violent protests in the Muslim world. In Pakistan also, there were violent protests, particularly in major cities such as Lahore , Karachi and Peshawar . Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) conducted a survey to measure the public opinion on the issue of blasphemous caricatures. The purpose of the survey was to collect public opinion in a consolidated way and to analyze violent trends in society. The survey focused on the popular attitude towards west, freedom of expression and government role. PIPS collected public opinion from most affected cities by the violent protests such as Lahore , Peshawar and Islamabad through 1500 comprehensive questionnaires. The survey was conducted from 20 February 2006 to 10 March 2006 and this was the period when the emotions remained flared up in these cities.

A different picture of Pakistan emerged out of the PIPS survey and the results showed that 97 percent respondents are in the favor of peaceful demonstrations, although the majority is not satisfied with the efforts of the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the Pakistan government. 95 percent respondents were against the attack on the foreign embassies and companies in the country. Here are the detailed results!

Question No 1: Are blasphemous caricatures of Holy Prophet (PBUH) part of freedom of expression?

Opinion: 96.8 percent respondents agreed that blasphemous caricatures are not part of the freedom of expression regime, less than 1 percent respondents differed with this opinion while 2.6 percent did not reply. Little variation was observed between the respondents from different cities. In Lahore 94.6 percent replied No, while in Islamabad and Peshawar the ratio was 98.6 percent and 97.2 percent respectively.

Question no 2a: What way of protest against the caricatures should be adopted?

Opinion: 92.3 percent respondents favored peaceful demonstrations while only1.4 percent were in the favor violent protests.

Question no 2b : Should embassies of the countries where caricatures published be attacked?
Opinion: 95.3 percent respondents said the embassies of the countries where caricatures published should not be attacked, 1.4 percent respondents favored the attacks, while 6 percent respondents didn’t give their opinion. 96.8 percent respondents from Peshawar , 91.6 percent from Islamabad and 89.2 percent from Lahore opposed the attacks. 9.2 percent respondents from Lahore , and 1.5 percent from Peshawar and Islamabad didn’t reply the question.

Question no 3: Should cartoons of leaders of other religions be published in Muslim countries in reaction of Prophet’s (PBUH) blasphemous caricatures?

Opinion : 99.4 percent agreed that the cartoons of the other religion Prophets should not be published. From Peshawar 100 percent opposed such attempts, while only 0.53 percent favored the blasphemous acts.

Question No 4: Should Pakistan announce economic boycott of the countries where the caricatures published?

Opinion: 62.26 percent respondents favored the economic boycott of the countries where the caricatures published, while 33.13 percent respondents disagreed, 0.46 percent respondents did not express their opinion. 70 percent respondents from Lahore and 74 percent respondents from Peshawar favored the boycott, while only 55 percent from Islamabad agreed with this opinion.

Question No 5: Should Pakistan break its diplomatic ties with those countries?

Opinion: 47.26 percent respondents did not agree to break the diplomatic ties with the countries where the caricatures published. 42.2 percent respondents opposed such policies while .53 percent didn’t express their opinion.

Question No 6: Should we boycott the business companies, belonging to those countries?

Opinion: 83.66 percent respondents favored to boycott the products and the companies of the countries where caricatures published. 16 percent opposed this opinion while 0.33 percent didn’t replied. 83 percent respondents in Lahore, 85 percent from Islamabad and 63 percent from Peshawar favored the boycott.

Question No 7: Should welfare organizations of those countries, carrying out relief work in earthquake-hit areas continue in Pakistan?

Opinion: 50.13 percent respondents said the welfare organizations of the countries where the caricatures published should continue work in earthquake hit areas of Pakistan.49.13 percent respondents opposed, while .73 percent respondents didn’t express any opinion. 82 percent respondents from Islamabad favored that welfare organizations should continue work, but from Lahore only 25 percent and 40 percent from Peshawar agreed with this opinion.

Question No 8a : Is apology by the newspapers, published caricatures, acceptable?

Opinion: 51.2 percent respondents ready to accept the apology by the newspapers, published caricatures, while 96.2 percent respondents from Peshawar opposed this opinion.

Question No 8b: Is apology by the countries where caricatures published acceptable?

Opinion: 54.8 percent respondents agreed that apologies from the countries, where caricatures published would be acceptable. 96.2 percent respondents from Peshawar didn’t favor this idea comparatively from Lahore and Islamabad where 76 percent respondents, 85 percent said that apology would be acceptable.

Question No 9 : Is the role of United Nations Organization against the caricatures satisfactory?

Opinion : 97.7 percent respondents were not satisfied with UNO role.

Question No 10: Is the role of Islamic states/Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) satisfactory?

Opinion: 85.33 percent respondents were not satisfied with OIC role.

Question No 11: Is the role of Pakistan Government satisfactory in present scenario?

Opinion: 92.2 percent not satisfied with the role of Pakistan government, only 5.2 percent respondents showed satisfaction, while 2.6 percent didn’t reply. 9 percent from Islamabad, 6 percent from Lahore and 2 percent from Peshawar didn’t reply the question.