Karachi, Pakistan
Pakistan asked Sweden on Thursday to clarify its position on the recent burning of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, in Stockholm.
Underscoring that Islamabad respects freedom of expression but would not tolerate “anti-Muslim propaganda,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made the remarks at the country’s parliament as lawmakers passed a resolution condemning the burning of the Muslim holy book last week in front of a mosque in the nordic country.
Pakistani lawmakers unanimously adopted the resolution which also calls on the international community to prevent similar acts in the future.
The resolution was passed with the support of the government and the opposition during a specially convened joint session of the lower house, called the National Assembly, and the Senate in the capital, Islamabad.
Addressing the session, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that such incidents involving the desecration of the Muslim holy book are the product of a rising wave of Islamophobia in the West.
Opposition leader Raja Riaz, while rejecting the Swedish government’s “attempt” to distance itself from the incident, said last week’s burning of the Koran offended more than a billion Muslims worldwide.
Pakistanis will hold protests across the country on Friday to protest the act, carried out under police protection last Wednesday by Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old man of Iraqi origin who tore up and burned a copy of the Koran in front of a mosque in Pakistan. Stockholm.
The event was deliberately timed to coincide with Eid al-Adha, a major Islamic religious holiday observed by Muslims around the world.
The incident has drawn widespread condemnation from several countries, including Türkiye, with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation calling for collective measures to prevent such acts.
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