by Maleeha Sofi
SRINAGAR: The UN Human Rights Council is set to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the incident of a Quran being burned outside a mosque in Sweden. The meeting is expected to take place later this week, focusing on addressing the escalation of religious animosity.
According to a spokesperson, the UN Human Rights Council will conduct an urgent meeting to discuss the burning of the Quran, which occurred in Stockholm and caused widespread global outrage. The incident involved the burning of a Quran outside the main mosque in the Swedish capital and resulted in a diplomatic backlash from Muslim-majority countries. According to Al-Jazeera, the meeting was requested by Pakistan.
On the occasion of Eid al-Adha, outside the main mosque in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, two men burned a copy of the Quran during a police-authorized protest, while a crowd of other protestors watched the incident unfold.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported, “The man who had requested permission for the action, a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee who advocates for a ban on the book, tore out pages from the Quran, wiped them on his shoe, and set some of them on fire.”
The New York Times reported on the incident, stating, “In an application for the permit, one of the men, Salwan Momika, identified by Swedish media as an Iraqi immigrant living in Sweden, said he wanted to express his opinion about the Quran by tearing it up and burning it. The police had granted a permit for the demonstration after a Swedish court ruled that banning it would impinge on the right to freedom of speech. However, the permit states that demonstrators are not allowed to burn objects in Stockholm.”
An international Islamic organization called for action to prevent the future desecration of the Quran, which was followed by condemnation from the Swedish government. Other countries also expressed their concern over the issue. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “We will teach the arrogant Western people that insulting the sacred values of Muslims is not freedom of expression.”
Morocco’s foreign ministry expressed “strong condemnation of this attack and its rejection of this unacceptable act,” as reported by state media. Additionally, Morocco has recalled its ambassador to Sweden indefinitely.
In Baghdad, Iraq, protests have erupted outside the Swedish embassy in response to the incident. Media reports indicate that the protests were prompted by Muqtada al-Sadr, a populist cleric who called on the Iraqi government to sever diplomatic relations with Sweden, which he deemed “hostile” to Islam.
The act was also condemned by other countries. Egypt described the burning of the Quran as a “disgraceful act,” while Saudi Arabia stated, “Hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification.” Malaysia’s foreign minister deemed the burning of a holy book during a significant Muslim festival as “offensive to Muslims worldwide.”
During an Iraqi League Football game, players, fans, and referees protested the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden by holding up copies of the Quran.
Pertinent to mention, Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) on Wednesday condemned the same act of burning copies of the Holy Qur’an in the presence of the government and the administration, who had given permission to that person to commit the blasphemous act.
The desecration of sacred texts and insults to revered personalities, deeply disturbs the followers of the religion whose symbols are being abused, and badly hurts their sentiments and feelings, MMU said in a statement.
The MMU said that governments of countries, who endorse such acts in the name of individual freedom, should revisit their nonsensical approach as they are basically defending the gratifying of individual prejudices and hostility, as in this case.
“Two billion Muslims around the world, including those in Jammu and Kashmir, strongly register their protests against this heinous act and its permission by the state of Sweden,” the MMU said.
This incident is not the first of its kind in Sweden. On January 21, 2023, a right-wing demonstrator in Stockholm burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy, leading Turkey to cancel the visit by Sweden’s defence minister to Ankara. President Erdogan stated that Sweden cannot count on Turkey’s support.
