ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday condemned the desecration of the Holy Qur’an and dishonoring of its flag outside the country’s embassy in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, while urging the authorities in the Scandinavian country to “stop such act of hatred and incitement.”
The foreign office issued the condemnation amid a series of anti-Islam demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark in recent weeks wherein people set copies of the scripture on fire. The incidents enraged Muslims across the world and prompted the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call for the prevention and prosecution of such acts.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also raised the issue with the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres a day earlier, seeking a comprehensive UN strategy to tackle Islamophobia.
“A strong protest has been lodged with the Government of Denmark and we expect the Danish authorities to take all measures necessary to stop such acts of hatred and incitement,” the foreign office said in a statement.
It added the intent of such “evil acts” was to insult two billion Muslims around the world and create friction among communities, cultures, and countries.
“These acts, by any definition, do not constitute freedom of expression nor can the permission to carry out provocative acts of religious hatred be justified under the pretext of freedom of expression, opinion, and protest,” it added.
The foreign office noted that Pakistan had always maintained that freedom of expression came with certain responsibilities. It maintained it was the responsibility of national governments, regional organizations, and the international community at large to call out, condemn, and proactively prevent the vile acts of Islamophobia and religious hatred.
“As urged by the UN Human Rights Council, the relevant countries must address, prevent, and prosecute such acts of religious hatred, and the international community must raise its collective voice against Islamophobia and work together to promote inter-faith harmony and peaceful co-existence.”
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the latest incidents of Qur’an burning, saying these acts had left Muslims around the world “deeply anguished” and those in Pakistan in “deep pain and distress.”
“The recurring pattern of these abominable and Satanic incidents has a sinister design: to hurt the inter-faith relations, damage peace and harmony and promote religious hatred and Islamophobia,” he wrote on Twitter.
