The desecration of the Holy Quran for the second time in six months in Sweden is being strongly condemned not only in the Islamic world but also in the Western world. This hateful, despicable and biased action is against religious tolerance, mutual respect and civilization. It is a complete contradiction to the high human values of decency.

Apart from the OIC, the organization of 57 Muslim countries, the European Union has also strongly condemned this provocative action based on hurting the hearts of two and a half billion Muslims and every decent and civilized human being in the world.

An emergency meeting of the OIC has also been called in which the plan of action will be decided in this regard. The most remarkable aspect of this case is that this heinous act has been done with the formal permission of a Swedish court.

According to about 200 eye-witnesses to the incident, two protesters tore up a copy of the holy Quran outside a Stockholm mosque and set it on fire after desecrating the holy book.

Prior to Wednesday’s demonstration, the man involved in the incident, Sloan Momika, told an American news channel that he does not follow any religion, and that he is staging the demonstration after a three-month legal battle in court demanding that the Quran be banned. The ban should be imposed. It should be noted that the Swedish police had rejected several requests for permits for anti-Muslim protests, but a local court overturned the police’s decisions, saying they violated freedom of expression.

This revelation of the director of the mosque and Imam Mehmood Khalafi is very important and it shows the collusion of the administration that the mosque administration requested the police to at least move the protest to another place which is possible according to the law but this request was not accepted.

According to CNN, the police permit for the demonstration states that the potential security risks and consequences of burning the Quran are not such that under current law, they can be the basis for a decision to reject the request for a demonstration. The permit for the demonstration also stated that burning the Quran meant increasing the risk of a terrorist attack and could also affect foreign policy. It is clear from this detail that the administration cannot be acquitted in this barbaric act of hurting the sentiments of billions of Muslims of the world.

It is clear from the police permit that permission would not have been granted if there had been a threat of mass riots, as if Muslims around the world were being incited to violent protests in order to then have the opportunity to spread terrorist propaganda against them.

Western policy makers are needed to prevent the increasing cases of  hatred against Islam in the West.

 After the reaction, the Swedish government has also rejected this action as an individual act, but this position is not consistent with its practical behavior, so it is important that, on the one hand, the OIC countries, like Morocco and Jordan, return their ambassadors from Sweden and ban its imports while at the same time correcting the misleading propaganda about Islam in the western world regarding terrorism in the light of the original teachings of Islam and correcting the entire human world  about their perception about Islam and tell them about this system of justice and mercy of Islam.

The desecration of the Holy Quran for the second time in six months in Sweden is being strongly condemned not only in the Islamic world but also in the Western world. This hateful, despicable and biased action is against religious tolerance, mutual respect and civilization. It is a complete contradiction to the high human values of decency.  Apart from the OIC, the organization of 57 Muslim countries, the European Union has also strongly condemned this provocative action based on hurting the hearts of two and a half billion Muslims and every decent and civilized human being in the world.  An emergency meeting of the OIC has also been called in which the plan of action will be decided in this regard. The most remarkable aspect of this case is that this heinous act has been done with the formal permission of a Swedish court.

According to about 200 eye-witnesses to the incident, two protesters tore up a copy of the holy Quran outside a Stockholm mosque and set it on fire after desecrating the holy book.

Often, non-Muslims are incited against Islam and poisoned against Islamic teachings to create hatred against Islam and Muslims in their hearts, due to which fear of Islam enters their hearts, which is called Islamophobia.

Recognizing Islamophobia as a crime, the United Nations designated March 15 last year as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. The decision to mark this day was taken after the approval of the resolution presented by Pakistan and the OIC.

In the resolution, it was said that the desecration of the Holy Qur’an, the profane sketches of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and insulting words about Islam are not only hurting the feelings of Muslims, but discrimination is also being allowed through Islamophobia. The United Nations needs to take action against those targeting Muslims. The International Day Against Islamophobia was celebrated for the first time on March 15 this year. And actions against Islamophobia were reiterated at the ceremony. On this occasion, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, emphasized that measures must be taken to end hatred against Muslims at the global level. There is no denying that those Muslims, who are in minority in many countries, have been passing through times in the post 9/11 situation where they face discrimination, hatred, bullying and deprivations in almost fields of life.

They are being victimized for the sins of handful fanatics, who were involved in the terrorists’ activities.

In the post 9/11 scenario, Islamophobia emerged as biggest threat to Muslims around the globe and it affected their lives in a big  way in almost all spheres of lives from discrimination in education, jobs, migrations, politics, and even their daily routine was disrupted by hate speeches and discriminatory remarks and behavior by people all around them.

It may be mentioned here that every society has some fanatics which can be gauged from fanatic activities across the globe by people from different origins and religious backgrounds, but those acts by few fanatics should not be equated with the peaceful acts of the entire communities. Time has come world should adhere to the UN-adopted resolution to advance mutual respect for Muslims and all cultures, traditions and religious beliefs.

Published in The Daily National Courier, July, 04 2023

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