Daily Times

Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned another provocative and deeply offensive act of desecration of the Holy Quran in The Hague on Friday.

The Foreign Office in a statement said, “This deliberate Islamophobic act deeply hurts the feelings of 2 billion Muslims around the world, and threatens peaceful coexistence and inter-religious harmony. Such offensive acts cannot be covered under legitimate freedom of expression, opinion and protest. International law obliges States to prevent and prohibit deliberate incitement to hatred, discrimination and violence on the basis of religion or belief.”

It said, “Pakistan believes that freedom of expression comes with responsibilities. It is the responsibility of national governments and the international community at large to prevent racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic acts. 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.”

“Pakistan’s concerns are being conveyed to the authorities in the Netherlands. We urge them to be mindful of the sentiments of Muslims around the world and take steps to prevent such hateful and Islamophobic acts. We also call on the international community to raise its voice against Islamophobia and work collectively to promote interfaith harmony,” the statement concluded. A Dutch far-right activist trampled on and tore up a copy of the Holy Quran at a demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in The Hague on Friday, infuriating dozens of counter-protesters.

Edwin Wagensveld, who leads the Dutch branch of the far-right group Pegida, damaged a copy of the Holy Quran, AFP correspondents witnessed. He was accompanied by two other people. Police had sealed off access to the street where the Turkish embassy is located and there were around fifty counter-protesters also present. Some of them began throwing stones at Wagensveld when he tore up pages from the Holy Quran. Around 20 police equipped with shields and batons intervened when some of the crowd tried to chase after him as he left.