Pakistan urges Sweden to take legal action against man for desecrating Holy Quran

• Resolution moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbas.
• MPs unanimously pass resolution, express deep distress over incident.
• World community urged to take effective measures against such incidents. 

The joint session of parliament on Thursday passed a resolution condemning the desecration of the Holy Quran in Stockholm and urged the Swedish government to take legal action against the man who burned the holy book.

The despicable act of the public burning of a copy of the holy book in Stockholm on the occasion of Eid ul Adha sparked worldwide protests and outrage.

An Iraqi man set a copy of the sacred book ablaze outside a mosque in the Swedish capital on June 28.

The resolution was moved by Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbas on the situation arising out of the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden in the joint sitting of parliament, which was chaired by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

Parliamentarians from the government and the opposition sides expressed deep distress over the incident, stating that Muslims worldwide were profoundly hurt by this disgraceful act.

They emphasised that no civilised society should permit the provocation and disrespect of religious sentiments under the guise of freedom of expression.

They urged the international community to address this tragic incident and take effective measures to prevent similar occurrences.

“This House condemns the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden. The Swedish government should take legal action against the person involved in the incident,” read the resolution.

Moreover, the resolution urged the Swedish government to assure that such incidents will not take place in the future.

It demanded that Islamophobic incidents should be dealt with like incidents against other religions and disapproved the desecration of sacred religious rituals books and personalities.

The joint session also called for forming an effective policy to combat Islamophobia.

PM seeks clarification from Sweden

Addressing the joint session, PM Shehbaz urged the Swedish government to clarify its position on the desecration of the Holy Quran saying why did it allow such an act under the protection of their police on the day when the Muslims were celebrating Eid ul Adha.

He said the desecration of the Holy Quran was an attempt to create animosity between the Muslims and Christians and any recurrence of such a condemnable act, would in no way be tolerated.

The premier also called upon United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convene an urgent session to invite the Muslim world leaders and adopt a condemnatory resolution.

He urged the NA speaker to form a committee with a mandate to formulate recommendations for their onward dissemination to the world including international organisations so that such acts could be averted.

The prime minister urged the parliamentarians to condemn the act of Swedish police and make it clear that the Muslims could even sacrifice their lives to protect the sanctity of the Holy Quran.

He said the peaceful protests should not be construed as weakness and that no one should complain about the consequences if such condemnable actions were repeated.

He said as the country would observe the Sanctity of Holy Quran Day on Friday, the whole nation should stage rallies across the country to condemn the desecration of Holy Quran and convey their sentiments to the world.

“This is beyond tolerance. This is not the first time as earlier too, same thing happened in Sweden.

This must be condemned in the strongest possible words,” he said.

The prime minister appreciated former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern for her support to the Muslims, after an Islamophobic attack against Muslims, which was a positive attempt to establish peace between Muslims and Christians.

— With additional input from APP