Monitoring Desk
KHOST: Hundreds of Afghan men staged a protest in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday to express anger at the burning of the Holy Qur’an in the Swedish capital over the weekend.
Swedish-Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burn a copy of the Muslim holy book in front of Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm on Saturday.
Protests have been held since then in various Muslim countries, and on Tuesday, crowds of Afghan men condemned the incident in Khost.
“Death to such politicians, death to the Swedish government,” protesters chanted in the Khost’s main square.
Several protesters were holding copies of the Holy Qur’an, burning the Swedish flag, and chanting slogans against Paludan.
“The people of Khost city condemned the burning of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden and called on Muslim nations to raise their voices against this filthy and evil politician,” a protester and one of the organizers of the rally said.
Another organizer said such acts “should not be repeated so as not to create hatred in the hearts of Muslims for other religions.”
Afghanistan condemns burning of Holy Qur’an
A protester, speaking on a loudspeaker at the rally, was calling the Swedish leader to catch Paludan “and kill him.”
Afghanistan’s foreign ministry had earlier denounced the burning of the Holy Qur’an.
In a statement released on Sunday, the foreign ministry called on the Swedish government “to punish the perpetrator” and to stop “such provocative and vile anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim acts”.
Demonstrations against Paludan’s burning of the Holy Qur’an also broke out in Iraq and Pakistan, and Indonesia summoned Sweden’s envoy on Tuesday over the incident.
