Burning of Holy Quran is a hate crime

At least 40 people were injured in clashes that broke out over Easter weekend in southern Sweden following a far-right anti-Muslim rally. 

The clashes erupted in several of Sweden’s southern cities after burnings of the Quran by Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party.

Saudi Arabia called Paludan’s actions a “deliberate abuse of the Holy Qur’an.”

In a statement published on their state news agency SPA on Sunday, the kingdom called the burnings “provocations and incitement against Muslims by some extremists in Sweden” and stressed “the importance of concerted efforts to spread the values of dialogue, tolerance and coexistence, reject hatred, extremism and exclusion, and prevent abuse of all religions and sanctities.”

In a tweet, the Emirati diplomatic adviser to the president, Anwar Gargash, rejected the “hatred” and “intolerance” against Islam.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “condemned the intentional abuse of the Holy Qur’an” by the far-right, saying it is “among the extreme right-wing practices that incite against immigrants in general and Muslims in particular.”

Kuwait “expressed its utter condemnation and disgust towards the acts of desecration perpetrated by Swedish extremists against the Holy Quran,” the state news agency KUNA said.

And Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the action “contradicts all religious values and principles, human rights principles and basic freedoms, and fuels feelings of hatred and violence and threatens peaceful coexistence.”

Pakistan and other Muslim countries strongly condemned the abhorrent act of desecration of the Holy Quran during the rally in Sweden and the offensive remarks by the Dutch politician, attacking Islam and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

These mindless provocative Islamophobic incidents serve no purpose other than hurting the sensitivities of over 1.5 billion Muslims living all over the world, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said in statement.