EU condemns Quran desecration in Sweden

BAGHDAD/RIYADH/ISLAMABAD: The European Union has strongly condemned the burning of the Quran and said the act does not in any way reflect the views of the union.

In a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), it said: “Burning the Quran or other holy books is desecration, disrespectful and a clear provocative act.

“Racism, xenophobia, any act of hatred has no place in Europe. It is deeply regrettable that such an act was carried out during the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Azha,” the statement added.

On the other hand, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has decided to convene an open meeting of the Executive Committee next week to discuss the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden. The meeting will be held in Jeddah to discuss measures to be taken against the heinous act and to adapt a collective position on the necessary course of action.

Earlier, in a press release, the General Secretariat had condemned the recurrence of the despicable attacks and attempts to violate the sanctity of the Quran.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he’s disgusted and appalled by public burning of Holy Quran in front of a mosque in Sweden.

Meanwhile, the man who burnt pages of the Quran outside a Stockholm mosque, told Swedish media that he intended to burn another Quran within 10 days. Speaking to a newspaper, Momika said he knew his action would provoke reactions and that he had received “thousands of death threats”. Nonetheless, he was planning further actions in the coming weeks, he said.

Meanwhile, acting President and Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani expressed deep concern and strongly condemned the incident. “I will personally write a special letter to all world parliaments, urging them to play their role in condemning the act of desecration and safeguarding religious harmony.” According to the Senate Secretariat, Sanjrani said the desecration had not only hurt the sentiments of Muslims worldwide but also violated the principles of respect and tolerance that are essential for a harmonious global society.

Sanjrani suggested convening an emergency session of parliaments of the Islamic world to collectively address the issue and devise strategies to prevent the desecration of religious texts in the future.

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Asharaf also strongly condemned the desecration. In his message, he said the painful incident had deeply hurt the sentiments of billions of Muslims. “Every state must take measures for prevention of such Islamophobic acts,” he said and urged the international community to work for promoting interfaith harmony and dialogue to create tolerance for each others’ religious beliefs and values. A statement of Foreign Office said the recurrence of such Islamophobic incidents during the last few months in the West calls into serious question the legal framework which permits such hate driven actions. “We reiterate that the right to freedom of expression and opinion does not provide a licence to stoke hatred and sabotage interfaith harmony,” it added.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUIF) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman called the international community to bring the culprits to justice. In a statement, he said religious and spiritual sentiments of the Muslim Ummah had been hurt by this vile and despicable act and added that insulting religious sanctities was intolerable. He said the incident appeared to be part of a plan to create conflict, chaos and sabotage global peace efforts.

Fazal asked the international community to take notice of it and punish the elements that were spoiling peace through such heinous acts.

Asim Hussain adds from Lahore: Religious leaders and scholars strongly condemned the repeated desecration of the Quran and blasphemy against Muslim holy figures in the West, demanding immediate unanimous response from the whole Muslim world to stop the growing western Islamophobia, calling Islamabad to severe ties with Stockholm and expelling its ambassador.

Jamaat-e-Islami Amer Sirajul Haq said the burning of the Holy Quran on the Eid day under police patronage was an outrageous blasphemy in a series of such acts which must be countered with a unified and effective response from Muslim states otherwise it would never stop in future.

Addressing a meeting on Saturday, he warned that it was only because of the lenient response by Muslim rulers that allowed Islamophobia to grow in Western countries with the audacity that the Quran was set ablaze on the Eid day under the patronage of police.

JUI-F deputy secretary general Maulana Amjad Khan, while addressing a gathering, warned that Muslim states must adopt a unanimous strategy to stop the western governments and groups from their growing intolerance of Islam and the systematic provocations of Muslim people by audacious blasphemous acts.

He asked the world leaders why they had closed their eyes to open religious terrorism against Muslims by the so-called champions of civilization and tolerance in Europe. He warned that the repeated provocations by Europeans is a deep conspiracy to push the Muslims towards some violent response to provide an excuse for taking further military actions against the Muslim countries.

Tehreek-i-Jafria Pakistan leader Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi demanded immediate severance of ties with Sweden and expulsion of its ambassador from Islamabad to express true representation of the sentiments of Muslims. He said Pakistan must also ask Stockholm to punish the culprits in an exemplary manner to pacify the growing anger in the Muslim world.

Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith president Senator Sajid Mir said the systematic blasphemy against Islam by the so-called civilized West is highly condemnable and seriously provocative, which must be stopped by a unified strategy by the Muslim world.

He said it was upon the Muslim rulers to take an effective stance against the rising Islamophobia in Europe to pacify the growing anger among the Muslims across the globe.