On Friday, as part of the national observance of “Youm-e-Taqaddus-e-Quran” (Quran Sanctity Day), millions of people marched through streets across the country to protest the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a request for the day to be observed. Following Friday evening prayers, many groups around the country staged marches and other forms of public protest. At these demonstrations, Swedish flags were burned around the country.
The demonstrations were orchestrated by multiple political parties and non-governmental organisations. All areas of life were represented here, from political activists and business owners to teachers and lawyers.
Friday sermons around the world were full of scholars condemning the incident in Sweden. Sheikh Tahir said in a sermon at an Islamabad mosque, “The entire Islamic world should cut diplomatic ties with Sweden and put economic pressure on Sweden by boycotting its products.”
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) held a rally on Constitution Avenue in Islamabad. The SCBA also filed a resolution of disapproval with the Foreign Ministry.
Christians in Pakistan were also very present at the demonstration. Different Christian communities and their religious leaders around the country voiced their outrage over the incident in Sweden.
After two hours of Friday prayers, shops in Karachi close. The All Karachi Trade Union organised a march from Memon Masjid to Tower where protesters chanted anti-Swedish government chants.
Protesters in France try to burn copies of the Holy Quran, which you can read about here:
Karachi Islamic Group, or Jamaat-e-Islami At the Karachi Press Club, Amir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman spoke at a protest held by members of Karachi’s minority population. It included Cardinal Joseph Coates, Yunus Sohn Advocate, and others.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) followers, numbering around 3,000, marched for miles while some battered effigies covered in Swedish flags. Additional TLP members numbering around 5,000 showed up to one of the rallies in Lahore.
Ziauddin Ansari, a member of the JI, called for the expulsion of the Swedish envoy and the convening of an OIC conference at a demonstration in Lahore. He also encouraged a general rejection of anything Swedish.
More than two hundred rallies were held in the provinces of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Gilgit-Baltistan by various political groups, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and others.
In Balochistan, several people gathered for demonstrations. Protesters gathered in Chagai and Dera Bugti, each with their own signs and chants. The leaders claimed that the incident in Sweden was carried out with the objective of offending Muslims everywhere.
Keep Reading Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the Swedish sacrilege of the Holy Quran
People all around the country, in both large and small communities, came out to peacefully oppose the incident in Sweden, and demonstrations were reported in both federal and provincial capitals.
Several Muslim states, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, Pope Francis, and the Swedish government all issued harsh condemnations last week when a man desecrated the Holy Quran in Stockholm.
