In emergency meeting, Islamic organisation says wilful desecration of the Holy Book is a troubling manifestation of growing hatred, racism and phobia against Muslims and Islam n Calls for sending constant reminder to world community of urgent implementation of international law to prohibit religious hatred.

 

ISLAMABAD   -   Denouncing the desecration of Holy Quran in Sweden, the Or­ganisation of Islamic Cooper­ation (OIC) has said that col­lective measures are needed to prevent acts of desecration to the Holy Quran and internation­al law should be used to stop re­ligious hatred. 

The OIC Executive Commit­tee emergency meeting held in Jeddah on Sunday strongly con­demned the burning of Holy Qu­ran in Stockholm last week out­side a mosque at the time of Eid prayers and urged the Muslim countries to take unified and collective measures to prevent such measures in future.

A man burned a copy of the holy book outside Stockholm’s central mosque on Wednesday, the first day of the Muslim Eid ul Adha holidays.

The act angered OIC member Turkey whose backing Sweden needs to gain entry to the NATO military alliance.

Swedish police had granted permission for a protest to take place. But after the burning, po­lice charged the man who car­ried it out with agitation against an ethnic or national group.

The incident has triggered large protests in Baghdad in front of the Swedish Embassy. It has also been condemned by the United States.

Opening the debate, OIC Sec­retary General, Mr Hussein Ibrahim Taah, called upon the Islamic countries to take unified and collective measures to solve the incidents of Islamophobia including incidents of burning of the Holy Quran and insulting our Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). 

He said that unfortunately, on the first day of the auspicious occasion of Eid ul Azha, when all Muslims around the world were celebrating, a despicable act of reciting the Holy Quran was committed outside the Cen­tral Mosque in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.

“We emphasize the need to send a clear message that the acts of chanting of the Holy Quran and insulting our Holy Prophet Muhammad are not just normal incidents of Islam­ophobia, and there is a necessi­ty to send a constant reminder to the international community of the urgent implementation of international law, which clearly prohibits any invitation to reli­gious hatred,” he remarked. 

He said the wilful desecration of the Holy Quran on the blessed occasion of Eid ul Azha is a trou­bling manifestation of grow­ing hatred, racism and phobia against Muslims and Islam. 

“Such wanton incitement to discrimination, hatred and vio­lence cannot be justified under the pretext of freedom of ex­pression or protest,” he said. 

The secretary general said that recurrence of such Islam­ophobic incidents during the last few months in the West calls into serious question the legal framework which permits such hate-driven actions and behind which the Islamophobes routinely hide.

Pakistan had earlier this week strongly condemned the “despi­cable act” of the public burning of a copy of the Holy Quran.

“Such wilful incitement to dis­crimination, hatred and vio­lence cannot be justified under the pretext of freedom of ex­pression and protest,” a state­ment issued by the Foreign Of­fice in condemnation of the abhorrent incident read.

The FO stated that interna­tional law binds all the states to prevent and prohibit any advo­cacy of “religious hatred” that leads to incitement of violence.

“The recurrence of such Is­lamophobic incidents during the last few months in the West calls into serious question the legal framework which permits such hate-driven actions.”

Pakistan’s envoy to OIC Fawad Sher reiterated that the right to freedom of expression and opinion does not provide a li­cence to stoke hatred and sab­otage inter-faith harmony. It can certainly not be used as a smokescreen to deliberately vil­ify Holy Scriptures.

He said that the Pakistani Pres­ident, Prime Minister, the Min­istry of Foreign Affairs and the senior political leadership of Pa­kistan have strongly denounced the continued attacks on the sanctity of the Holy Quran and called for an immediate cessa­tion of the trend. He also said that the OIC, mandated by its charter and various resolutions, must enhance its efforts to check the ominous streak of condem­nable incidents that involve den­igrating the Holy Quran.

“We must join hands and urge the international community to put an end to such deeply offen­sive and senseless incidents,” he said. Pakistan has once again urged that the internation­al community must undertake credible and concrete measures to prevent the rising incidents of xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred, Fawad concluded.