Pakistan’s Foreign Office issued a statement Thursday from ISLAMABAD, strongly condemning the vandalism of the Holy Quran outside a Stockholm mosque on the occasion of Eidul Azha.
There is no way to rationalize the intentional promotion of bigotry, violence, and prejudice under the guise of free speech, the statement stated.
The statement continued by saying that states have a responsibility under international law to forbid the advocacy of religious hatred that could encourage bloodshed.
“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,” it continued.
Also included in the statement was the following: “We reiterate that the right to freedom of expression and opinion does not provide a license to stoke hatred and sabotage inter-faith harmony.”
Protesters on a French island try to torch copies of the Holy Quran, which you can read about here.
The FO called for “credible and concrete measures to prevent the rising incidents of xenophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-Muslim hatred” in its message to the world community and national governments.
A man tore up and burned a copy of the Holy Quran in front of Stockholm’s central mosque the day before, an act that risks angering Turkey as Sweden seeks to join NATO.
Roughly 200 witnesses saw what happened. Those in attendance protested the vandalism by yelling “God is great” in Arabic, and one man was arrested for attempting to throw a rock.
The guy who burned the Holy Quran has been charged with incitement against a national or ethnic group and with breaking a fire ban that has been in effect in Stockholm since the middle of June.
Recently, Swedish police have turned down multiple requests for anti-Holy Quran demonstrations, but the courts have decided against them on the grounds that they violate free expression.
