Muslim nations call for action after Islamophobic Koran burning

Muslim nations call for action after ‘Islamophobic’ Koran burning – Al Jazeera English

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Application to the UN Human Rights Council calls for action against the burning of the Koran in Sweden, which Pakistan says is fueling “religious hatred”.

Muslim nations including Iran and Pakistan say the desecration of the Holy Qur’an is an incitement to violence and are calling for accountability after a series of stunts in Sweden sparked backlash around the world.

A motion filed Tuesday with the United Nations human rights body was a response to the latest incident last month, calling on countries to review their laws and fill loopholes that “impair the prevention and prosecution of acts and advocacy of religious hatred.” could”.

The debate highlighted divisions at the UN Human Rights Council between the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and Western members concerned about the motion’s impact on free speech and challenges to long-established rights protection practices.

An Iraqi immigrant in Sweden tore up, burned and kicked on the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque last month during the Eid al-Adha holiday, sparking outrage in the Muslim world and angry protests in several Pakistani cities.

“We must see this clearly for what it is: inciting religious hatred, discrimination and attempts to provoke violence,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told the Geneva-based council via video, saying such acts “are under state sanction and with the approval of the government “feeling of impunity”.

“Irresponsible and Wrong”

Bhutto Zardari’s comments were echoed by comments from ministers from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, with the latter calling the Koran burning an act of “Islamophobia”.

“Stop abusing freedom of expression,” said Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. “Silence means complicity.”

In 2020, members of a Danish far-right group burned a copy of the Koran in Stockholm, days after a similar incident in the southern city of Malmo.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian urged Sweden and European nations to take “urgent and effective measures” against such incidents.

Lolwah Rashid Al-Khater, Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, reiterated the Gulf state’s condemnation, accusing programs that “incite hatred and foment unrest among Muslims and the people of their communities, as well as provoking the faith of billions of people worldwide.” .

Some Western nations condemned the stunts but also defended “freedom of expression.”

The German UN Ambassador Katharina Stasch called the actions in Sweden a “terrible provocation”, but added: “Freedom of expression sometimes means expressing opinions that seem almost unbearable.”

The French envoy said human rights are about protecting people, not about religions and their symbols.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk told the council that hate speech against Muslims and other religions or minorities is “offensive, irresponsible and wrong”.

Taliban target “Sweden”.

The Taliban government said in a statement it had halted all Sweden’s activities in Afghanistan “after insulting the holy Koran and giving permission to insult Muslim beliefs”.

No details were given as to which organizations would be affected by the ban. Sweden has not had an embassy in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in 2021.

The aid organization of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) said it was seeking clarification with the authorities.

“SCA is not a Swedish government agency. “SCA is independent and impartial towards all political interest groups and states and strongly condemns any desecration of the Holy Qur’an,” the NGO said in a statement.

“For over 40 years, SCA has worked in close cooperation with the rural people and with deep respect for both Islam and local traditions in Afghanistan.”

Thousands of Afghan employees work for the organization across the country in the areas of health, education and rural development. SCA treated 2.5 million patients in its health clinics last year.