Condemnations Pour In as Quran Desecration Continues in Europe
The latest desecration of Muslims’ holy book was on Friday in Denmark where a far-right group burned a copy of the Holy Quran in front of Turkish embassy.
Turkey summoned Danish envoy, voicing its strong protest to anti-Islam moves in the European country.
Meanwhile, OIC, Qatar, and Malaysia have also slammed the latest desecration.
Speaking on behalf of OIC at Human Rights Council on Friday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Khalil Hashmi termed the recent acts of desecration of the Holy Quran not just a provocation to the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world, but a step to sabotage interfaith harmony and peace.
“This year we have witnessed at least five incidents of public desecration of the Holy Quran in Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands – as the latest manifestation of racial hatred and xenophobia,” he said, the Express Tribune reported.
“The OIC Group echoes the outrage of nearly two billion human beings whose faith is anchored in the message of Quran,” Ambassador Hashmi told the delegates, citing a verse from the holy book that read: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.”
The Pakistani envoy said an unequivocal condemnation should have been the starting point of the international community’s response to these acts.
“Absence of preventive legal deterrence, inaction, and shying away from speaking out encourages further incitement to hatred and violence,” Hashmi said, noting that more incidents had followed, which was not surprising at all.
“If those responsible for prevention were not complicit earlier; they are now,” he said. “They are in violation of their obligations under international human rights laws.”
The Pakistani envoy said he was appalled at the human rights machinery’s general apathy towards these incidents.
“We particularly note with disappointment the choice made by special rapporteurs on freedom of religion and belief, and freedom of expression to not call out these deliberate acts of hatred,” he said.
“We reject selective academic interpretations of human rights law,” the envoy said. “It has shaken our faith in their work.”
He said, “Finally, we have a message for those enjoying impunity in desecrating our Holy book! When you hold the next copy, try reading it.”
Malaysia urges Denmark to ‘take immediate action’
Malaysia slammed in the strongest terms the repeated vile attacks against the Quran in Denmark following the latest incident on Friday.
Wisma Putra said a similar attack was carried out on March 24, stressing that such hateful crimes against Islam’s holy book carried out during the holy month of Ramadan is a blatant disregard of the sensitivities of Muslims around the world.
“We call upon the government of Denmark not to classify this heinous crime as freedom of expression, and to take immediate action against the perpetrators for spreading hatred and incitement to violence,” said Wisma Putra in a Twitter post yesterday.
Doha slams desecration as serious provocation
The State of Qatar condemned in the strongest terms the repeated crime of burning a copy of the Holy Quran in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, stressing that this heinous incident is an act of incitement and a serious provocation to the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world, especially in the blessed month of Ramadan, calling on the Danish government to take the necessary measures against perpetrators of religious hate crimes.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that allowing the repeated infringement of the Holy Quran under the pretext of freedom of expression fuels hatred and violence, threatens the values of peaceful coexistence, and reveals abhorrent double standards, the Gulf Times reported.
The ministry reiterated the State of Qatar's total rejection of all forms of hate speech based on belief, race or religion and using sanctities in political disputes. It also warned that the campaigns of hatred against Islam and the discourse of Islamophobia witnessed a dangerous escalation with the continued systematic calls for the repeated targeting of Muslims in the world. In this context, the ministry renewed its call to the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to reject hatred, discrimination, incitement and violence, underlining the importance of upholding the principles of dialogue and mutual understanding.
Source: Agencies
