ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the latest incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark.
In the tweet, the prime minister said the incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in front of an Iraqi Embassy in Denmark has left Muslims all over the world “deeply anguished” and the people of Pakistan are in “deep pain and distress”.
“The recurring pattern of these abominable and Satanic incidents has a sinister design: to hurt the inter-faith relations, damage peace and harmony and promote religious hatred and Islamophobia,” he said.
The prime minister called upon the governments and faith leaders in particular to put an end to such abhorrent practices.
“Let us not allow a handful of misguided and evil people to hurt the emotions of billions of people. Let them not dictate their nefarious agenda,” he said.
In yet another incendiary incident, two Danish men on Monday desecrated the Holy Quran by burning a copy of it in front of the Iraqi embassy in Denmark.
The duo are part of a far-right extremist group that calls itself Danish Patriots which held a similar demonstration last week and live-streamed the events on Facebook.
Mass protests erupted in Iran and Iraq after Denmark and Sweden allowed the desecration of the Holy Quran under rules protecting free speech. Protesters in Iraq set alight the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
Several thousand Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Saturday over the burnings in the two Nordic countries, in a gathering called by ruling Iraqi parties and armed groups.
The organisers of Monday’s demonstration in Copenhagen stomped on the Quran and set it alight in a tin foil tray next to the Iraqi flag on the ground.
The anti-Islam demonstration in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, prompted Middle Eastern states, including Saudi Arabia and Iran to summon Swedish diplomats in protest.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Sweden to hand over culprits to face the justice of Islamic nations.
“The Swedish government should know that by supporting the criminal who burnt the Holy Quran it has gone into battle array for war on the Muslim world,” he said on Twitter.
