Arif Ali—AFP
Hundreds of protesters in Lahore on Tuesday took to the streets to voice outrage over the torching of a copy of the holy Quran in Sweden over the weekend.
Swedish-Danish politician Rasmus Paludan on Saturday set fire to a copy of the Quran in front of Turkey’s embassy in the Swedish capital, stoking the anger of Ankara, which said it would not support the Scandinavian country’s bid for NATO membership. Furious that Paludan was allowed by police to carry out the protest, Ankara also cancelled a visit by Sweden’s defense minister and summoned Stockholm’s ambassador.
Protesters in Lahore chanted “Shame on Sweden” at the rally organized by local political parties. Earlier, in a posting on Twitter, Prime Minister Shehbaz wrote: “The garb of the freedom of expression cannot be used to hurt the religious emotions of 1.5 billion Muslims across the world. This is unacceptable.”
The incident was condemned by Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who tweeted: “Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act.” He added: “I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today.”
Blasphemy and insults to Islam are galvanizing issues in Pakistan, which has regularly raised its concerns of rising Islamophobia across the world on the international stage. Apart from Pakistan, demonstrations against Paludan’s burning of the Quran also broke out in Iraq on Monday and Indonesia summoned Sweden’s envoy on Tuesday to protest the incident.