Pakistan on Monday condemned a Swedish far-right group’s desecration of the Holy Quran and offensive remarks passed by a Dutch politician, according to a statement issued from the Foreign Office (FO).
“Pakistan strongly condemns the recent abhorrent act of desecration of the Holy Quran during rallies in Sweden. Pakistan also strongly condemns the offensive remarks made by a Dutch politician, attacking Islam and the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.
“Pakistan’s concerns have been conveyed to the authorities in Sweden and the Netherlands. They have been urged to take cognisance of the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and the Muslims worldwide and take steps to prevent Islamophobic incidents,” the FO statement said.
Swedish police said on Monday that several days of unrest, sparked by a far-right group’s plans to desecrate the Quran, have injured several dozen people and called for more resources to deal with the violence. Protests turned violent in several cities since Thursday, leaving 26 police officers and 14 civilians injured, police said at a press conference on Monday.
Pakistan said such “provocative Islamophobic incidents” served no purpose other than hurting the sensitivities of the global Muslim community.
“Such actions are not covered under legitimate expressions of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, which carry responsibilities under international human rights law such as the obligation not to carry out hate speech and incite people to violence,” the statement said.
It added that Muslims everywhere unequivocally condemned the practice of insulting Islam, Christianity and Judaism and stood against all acts of violence on the basis of religion or belief. “These principles must be equally respected and supported by all,” the statement pointed out.
Pakistan said the international community needed to show a common resolve against xenophobia, intolerance and incitement to violence on the basis of religion or belief, and work together for promoting inter-faith harmony and peaceful co-existence.
