Pakistan condemns ‘deeply offensive’ desecration of Holy Quran in Netherlands

• Pakistan strongly condemned the latest act of desecration of the Holy Quran.
• The Quran was desecrated in front of embassies of OIC member states in The Hague.
• Pakistan said the provocative and Islamophobic act hurt the sentiments of Muslims.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly condemned the latest senseless and deeply offensive act of desecration of the Holy Quran that took place in The Hague, the Netherlands in front of some embassies of OIC member countries including Pakistan.

“It is a deliberately provocative and Islamophobic act that has hurt the sentiments of Muslims around the world. Such acts cannot be condoned under the guise of freedom of expression, opinion and protest,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

The statement said Pakistan believes that freedom of expression comes with responsibilities. National governments should actively prevent racist and Islamophobic acts, which incite religious hatred.

It is important for the international community to raise its voice against Islamophobia and work in concert to promote interfaith harmony, the spokesperson said.  That was the spirit behind the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2022 to mark 15 March as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, the statement added.

Pakistan’s concerns have been conveyed to the Dutch authorities. We urge them to be mindful of the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and Muslims around the world and take active steps to prevent such hateful and Islamophobic acts, the spokesperson added.

OIC condemnation

The OIC General Secretariat condemned in the strongest terms the provocative act of desecration of a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the Embassies of some OIC Member States in The Hague, the Netherlands.

In a statement, the OIC reaffirms the position on the repeated incidents of desecration of copies of the holy text as well as other sacred books, values and symbols of Islam under the garb of freedom of expression.

The OIC General Secretariat called on the Dutch authorities to take necessary measures against such provocative acts, which constitute acts of religious hatred, in violation of international law, and to prevent their recurrence.

Desecration

In an abhorrent act, the leader of the anti-Muslim group Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) desecrated a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the embassies of Muslim countries in the Netherlands.

Edwin Wagensveld, the leader of Pegida in the Netherlands, publicly ripped apart a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the Turkish, Pakistani, and Indonesian embassies in The Hague. His hateful act was accompanied by insults directed at Islam and Muslims.

Previous attacks against the Holy Quran have occurred in countries like Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. There have been huge protests and condemnation in mostly Muslim countries regarding the protests.

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