ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has decided to hold an “urgent” session to discuss desecration of the Holy Qur’an, a UN spokesperson said Tuesday, days after a copy of the holy book was burnt in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. 

Salwan Momika, 37, a refugee from Iraq, last week desecrated the Qur’an and set fire to its pages in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque. The act, coming during the major Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha, drew widespread condemnation in the Muslim world.  

Countries throughout the Middle East and beyond denounced the burning, some recalled their ambassadors, and foreign ministries summoned the Swedish ambassadors to their countries to hear official protests.  

Following the incident, the European Union also condemned the incident, terming it “offensive,” “disrespectful” and an “act of provocation.” 

“Following a request received by Pakistan yesterday evening, the United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an urgent debate to ‘discuss the alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred, as manifested by the current desecration of the holy Qur’an in some European and other countries’,” UNHRC spokesperson Pascal Sim said at a press briefing. 

“The urgent debate will most likely be convened this week at a date and time to be determined by the bureau of the Human Rights Council that is meeting today.” 

Pakistan had requested for the debate on behalf of several member countries of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), including countries that were current members of the Human Rights Council, he added.  

In an extraordinary meeting in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, the 57-state OIC also called for collective measures to prevent acts of desecration of the Holy Qur’an, saying international law should be used to stop religious hatred.  

On Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the Pakistani nation fully condemned the “disgusting” incident that took place in Sweden. 

“It is our demand [from the Swedish government] to initiate action against those involved in the crime,” he said, addressing a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.  

“Unfortunately, this is not the first incident, such heart-wrenching incidents took place in the past as well. The Pakistani government endorses the OIC decision and hopes that the recurrence of such incident is avoided.”