Daily Times

Leaders and scholars from different religions and faiths in an emergency meeting held here in Lahore denounced desecration of Islam’s holy book, and discussed consequences arising from the unfortunate incident that happened on the first day of Eid Al-Adha in front of the Central Mosque in Stockholm, Sweden.

On June 28, a 37-year-old refugee from Iraq desecrated the Holy Qur’an and set fire to its pages, prompting widespread outrage and condemnation across the Muslim world. Besides the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the 27-member European Union also condemned the incident of desecration of the holy book in Sweden. Addressing the emergency meeting in Lahore, National Council for Interfaith Peace and Harmony (NCIPH) founder Javaid William said that burning of the holy book was offensive, and disrespectful and a clear act of provocation. He said that it was even more deplorable that such an act was carried out on Eid Al-Adha.

Maulana Shakeel-ur-Rehman Nasir, Mufti Syed Ashiq Hussain, Allama Hafiz Kazam Raza Naqvi, priest Amjad Niamat, Prof Kalyan Singh, Prof Masood Ahmad, Maulana Hafiz Abdul Waheed Ropri, and Hafiz Samiullah and other leaders and scholars joined the meeting, and stressed the need for the world community to implement laws that explicitly prohibit promotion of religious hatred. “We strongly condemn and censure repeated actions of hatred and provocations,” they said, adding that such acts were unacceptable regardless of any rationale, as these acts overtly encourage hatred, exclusion, and racism. “We can observe that these acts contravene religious principles and all global agreements advocating for peace and unity,” they sad.

Separately, the Youth Council for Interfaith Peace and Harmony in an emergency meeting also condemned the Stockholm incident, and said that the desecration of the holy books was considered a cruel act by all religions. They said that this incident has nothing to do with any religion. They asked the Swedish government to take notice of this hatred-filled incident. Youth Council coordinator Syrah Butt, and core team members Balbeer Singh, Waleed Ahmed, Nauman Gill, Gohar Ali, Ehsan Rafique, Sameer Inderyass, Tamar Yakoob and Hiba Nazir joined the meeting. Addressing the participants, Javaid William said that this act was based on anti-humanity and an attempt to divide religions. “We, despite such provocation, respect all religions, including sacred books and personalities. So it is our duty to respect all,” he said. “The Iraqi national is not a Christian, but an atheist. We demand the Swedish government to take strict action against this monster,” he said. The participants also demanded of the government to take action against those who are trying to cause violence through social media.