Brussels, Sept 20 (IRNA) The chief minister of the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday criticized Pope Benedict XVI for making anti-Islamic remarks.

"The first thing, he shouldn't have said it because he is a person no less than a pope who is internationally respected by all communities," Azad told a gathering of diplomats and journalists in Brussels this afternoon.

"Pope is respected in our country by Muslims, Hindus, Christians.

As a matter of fact it was very shocking coming from the pope, these words," said Azad, a former Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the Manmohan Singh government .

Earlier, he spoke on the topic 'EU-India: Pluralism and Diversity', at the Brussels based think-tank, the European Institute for Asian Studies.

Azad said he instructed his government in the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, which has witnessed demonstrations against the pontiff, to protect all English-medium schools and churches.

Noting that on behalf of the Pope there has been an apology, he added, "I think we should close the chapter. You cannot drag these things. They are unending."
Azad is currently visiting Brussels at the invitation of the European Parliament.

In a speech on 'Faith and Reason' at the Regensburg University in Germany last week, the German-born Pope Benedict XVI quoted anti-Islamic polemics of the Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologus.

He apologized for the reactions in the Muslim world and said they were not his views.