Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned yet another “abhorrent” act of desecration of the Holy Quran in Denmark, calling it the manifestation of growing hatred and Islamophobia.
Al Arabiya reported that Rasmus Paludan, a far-right activist who holds both Danish and Swedish citizenship, had already infuriated the Muslim world by staging a Quran-burning protest in Sweden on January 21.
On Friday, Paludan replicated the stunt in front of a mosque as well as the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen and vowed to continue every Friday until Sweden is admitted into NATO.
“The recurrence of such wilful and vile acts is a troubling manifestation of growing hatred, racism and phobia against Muslims and their faith,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement.
She said the repeated occurrence of such premeditated acts calls into question the efficacy of legal framework behind which Islamophobes hide and incite hatred with impunity.
She said that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression could not be used as a smokescreen to deliberately denigrate the Holy Scriptures or personalities of any religion.
The spokesperson called on all states to develop legal deterrence with a view to preventing and prosecuting such acts, in line with the responsibilities and duties enshrined in international human rights law.
“We also call upon the international human rights machinery to speak out against such intentional actions that constitute incitement to hate, discrimination and violence against Muslims solely because of their faith,” the spokesperson remarked.
