Rallies held to protest desecration of Holy Quran as nation observes ‘Quran Sanctity Day’

Rallies were taken out across the country on Friday to protest of the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden as the nation observed “Youm-i-Taqaddus-i-Quran” (Quran Sanctity Day).

Last week, a man had desecrated the Holy Quran in Sweden’s capital Stockholm, resulting in strong condemnation from several Muslim states, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the European Union, Pope Francis and the Swedish government, among others.

Earlier this week, a joint session of Parliament had passed a resolution urging Sweden to take “appropriate steps” against the perpetrators involved while the government had designated today as Yaum-i-Taqaddus-i-Quran to express outrage over the incident.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also on the nation to record their protest. Meanwhile, protests have been taking place in the country during the past week, including by political parties, lawyers and the Christian community.

Rallies were held in major cities after Friday prayers with citizens expressing their anger at the incident in Sweden.

Religious organisations and members of civil society staged a demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club. On the occasion, protesters said that the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden had hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world. They also called on the government to summon the Swedish envoy to record Pakistan’s strong protest.

Another rally was also organised in Chagai and Dera Bugti, where protesters carried placards and chanted slogans.

In Lahore, Jamaat-i-Islami’s Ziauddin Ansari addressed a rally and said that the ruling coalition had only passed a resolution in the National Assembly condemning the incident. He called on the government to call a meeting of the OIC and to expel the Swedish envoy from the country He also told participants to boycott Swedish products.

Rallies were also taken out in parts of Karachi, including Bolton Market, main M. A. Jinnah Road and Dawood Chowrangi, disrupting traffic in the city.

Separately, several rallies were held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district. Political parties, including the PTI, PML-N and the JI, staged protests in Bisham, Karora, Alpuri, Puran and Chakesar.

‘Muslim Ummah disturbed at incident in Sweden’

In a tweet today, Shehbaz said, “When it comes to the [matter of] Quran, the [entire] nation is united. The entire Muslim Ummah is disturbed by the incident in Sweden.”

He further said the nation will unite to protest to “express their feelings and emotions over the disheartening incident”, adding that after the Friday afternoon prayers, “all classes of Pakistani Muslims will raise the flag of the Holy Quran’s honour and record their peaceful protest”.

“The Holy Quran is in our hearts. The Holy Quran is not only a recitation for us but a guideline for living,” Shehbaz said.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also took to Twitter, noting that the desecration was “another example of the rising Islamophobic mindset that seeks to dehumanise and denigrate our faith”.

He called the act a “blatant provocation to try [to] inflame sentiments and undermine Islam as a religion of peace, tolerance and acceptance”.

Bilawal asserted that Pakistan will be raising the issue at the urgent debate of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which will be held on July 11 in Geneva, on behalf of the OIC group.

Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman voiced similar concerns, saying that the incident “not just dehumanises our religion but also deliberately seeks to provoke Muslim sentiment”.

Yesterday, addressing the parliament, the prime minister had said, “I am trying to reach out to the secretary general of the United Nations to call a meeting of all the Muslim leaders in which condemnations would be issued.”

While noting that Sweden had condemned the incident, Shehbaz had raised the question that the country should clear its position on why the incident took place at all.

The premier had termed the incident to be a part of a “conspiracy to create rifts between Christians and Muslims”.

Earlier the same day, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan had raised the issue of the desecration with the Swedish charge d’affaires in Islamabad, Radio Pakistan had reported.

Separately, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer had been reported as saying that the government was examining whether it could make desecration of the Holy Quran or other holy books on fire illegal, as recent incidents have damaged Sweden’s security.