Pakistan Muslims Rally Against Sweden's Quran-Burning Stunt
18:20 07.07.2023 (Updated: 18:26 07.07.2023)
© Photo : Jamaat e Islami Pakistan
Subscribe
Pakistan's federal government has called for nationwide protests on Friday, July 7 against the desecration of the Quran in Sweden.
The decision was made during a meeting presided over by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The Prime Minister urged the entire nation, all political parties included, to take to the streets and protest so that the nation could collectively send a message to the malefactors.
Organized by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call, a protest demonstration against the desecration of Holy Quran took place at Mingora Nishat Chowk.
Pakistan strongly condemned the public burning of the Quran in Sweden's capital Stockholm last week. This incident was carried out by an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, who stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages on fire.
A statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office in condemnation of the incident read, "Such willful incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence cannot be justified under the pretext of freedom of expression and protest."
The foreign office further stated that international law binds all the states to prevent and stop any advocacy of "religious hatred" that leads to incitement of violence, adding that the right to freedom of expression and opinion does not provide a license to foment hatred or sabotage inter-faith harmony.
Pakistani Politicians React to Quran-Burning Incitement
Pakistan's government announced that on July 7 the federal government will observe "Yaum-e-Taqaddus-e-Quran", which means a day to protect the sanctity of the Holy Quran. People are expected to come out on the streets after Friday prayers, in the afternoon.
Former prime minister and PTI Chairman, Imran Khan, strongly condemned the “hate-filled Islamophobic crime” in a tweet. He called the act “loathsome”, which according to Khan was “sanctioned” by the Swedish police.
The police had permitted the demonstration in Stockholm after a Swedish court ruled that banning it would have an effect on the country's right to freedom of speech.
However, according to the permit issued, demonstrators were not allowed to burn objects in Stockholm.
Imran Khan reminded the Swedish government of a specific UN resolution which called for combating Islamophobia worldwide.
"Such a hate-filled act serves no purpose beyond causing anger and deep hurt to Muslims across the world. The Swedish government should recall the UNGA Resolution and also realize that freedom of speech in no way allows absolute freedom simply to cause hurt to others,” Khan tweeted.
Similarly, Pakistan's Jamaat-i-Islami political party's leader, Siraj-ul Haq also asked his party members and followers to go out to the streets of Pakistan on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, Haq termed the incident a part of an organized campaign against Islam in the western world, which has particularly gained momentum after 9/11.
He said such incidents serve as evidence that "anti-Islam elements, psychopaths and hate mongers could not accept the Islamic message of peace and equality." During his address, the political leader further said that Islamophobia became a “culture” in the West and posed a serious threat to world peace.
Haq also thanked Pope Francis, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Canadian prime minister for condemning the incident in Sweden and demanded a strong reaction from the OIC, the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation and rulers of the Muslim world against such blasphemous acts.
“The Quran is sacred for Muslims and should be sacred for everyone else”
— RusEmbassy_Pakistan (@RusEmbPakistan) June 29, 2023
🇷🇺 President Vladimir Putin was gifted a copy of the Quran during his visit to the Juma Mosque of Derbent in Dagestan, known as the oldest mosque in Russia, on the first day of Eid al Adha
🇷🇺🤝🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/qcloBDPb0h
Sweden's Ties With the Muslim World Sour
The timing of this Quran-burning stunt during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, further angered and upset Muslims in many countries, who were celebrating Eid, which honors the end of the Hajj pilgrimage.
Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, Turkiye and other Muslim nations stated that the desecration of Islam's holy book while Muslims celebrated such an essential holiday was “offensive to Muslims worldwide.”
Many Islamic leaders summoned Swedish ambassadors and diplomats, in their respective countries, following the incident.
Alas, this bizarre act is not the first in Sweden as last week's burning of the Quran in Stockholm was preceded by a similar stunt in January, when a far-right Danish-Swedish political figure, Rasmus Paludan, burned a copy of the holy book outside the Turkish Embassy in the Swedish capital, which set off tensions with Turkiye.
Stockholm's diplomatic ties with Ankara were already strained prior to this, with the Turkish government stalling Sweden's NATO entry bid. Moreover, Turkiye had asked Sweden to get tough on pro-Kurdish activists and members of a banned religious group whom it considers terrorists living in Sweden.
Following the recent public desecration of Islam's holy book, Erdogan said that Turkiye would never bow to "the politics of provocation," adding that insulting things that were sacred to Muslims was "not freedom of thought."
