ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expressed strong condemnation over the “despicable act” of publicly burning a copy of the Holy Quran in Sweden during the celebration of Eid ul Adha, marking another incident of desecration of the sacred book.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, the act was denounced as a deliberate incitement to discrimination, hatred, and violence, which cannot be justified under the guise of freedom of expression and protest. The statement emphasized that international law binds all states to prevent and prohibit the advocacy of “religious hatred” that leads to the incitement of violence.
The recurrence of such Islamophobic incidents in the West over the past few months has raised serious questions about the legal framework that allows such hate-driven actions, the Foreign Office highlighted. Pakistan reiterated that the right to freedom of expression and opinion does not grant permission to fuel hatred or undermine inter-faith harmony.
Pakistan Calls for Measures to Combat Islamophobia
The concerns regarding the matter are being raised with the Swedish government on behalf of Pakistan, stated the Foreign Office. It also called upon the international community and national governments to take credible and concrete measures to combat the increasing incidents of xenophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-Muslim hatred.
According to Reuters, a man tore up and burned a copy of the Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque on Wednesday. The individual has since been charged by the police with agitation against an ethnic or national group. The series of demonstrations in Sweden against Islam has sparked outrage in the Muslim world, including Turkey, whose foreign minister called it unacceptable to permit anti-Islam protests under the pretext of freedom of expression.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan took to Twitter, condemning the “vile protest in Sweden against our holy book on the first day of the blessed Eid al-Adha.” Similar incidents have also recently occurred in the Netherlands, drawing strong condemnation from the Muslim community.
