Muslims protest in several countries against desecration of Qur’an

Protests were held on Friday in several Muslim-majority countries to denounce the desecration of Islamic scriptures by far-right activists in Sweden and the Netherlands.

Protests in countries including Pakistan, Iraq and Lebanon ended with people dissipating peacefully. In the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, police officers stopped several protesters trying to march to the Swedish Embassy.

About 12,000 Islamists from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labiak party gathered in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province, to denounce the desecration of the Qur’an in two European countries. In a speech to the protesters, Saad Rizvi, head of the TLP, asked the government to protest strongly with Sweden and the Netherlands so that such incidents do not happen again.

Similar rallies were also held in the southern city of Karachi and in the northwest.

Friday’s meeting ended peacefully. However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labiak has in recent years staged violent demonstrations over the publication of caricatures of the Islamic prophet in France and elsewhere in the world.

In Beirut, about 200 angry protesters burned Swedish and Dutch flags outside the blue-domed Mohammed Al-Amin mosque in downtown Martyrs Square.

Earlier this month, Rasmus Paludan, a right-wing activist from Denmark, got permission from the police to hold a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm where he burned a Koran. A few days later, Edwin Wagensveld, the leader of the far-right Pegida movement in the Netherlands, tore up a copy of the Quran near the Dutch parliament and trampled it underfoot.

The move angered millions of Muslims around the world and sparked protests.

Freedom of expression is guaranteed

Swedish officials insist that freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Swedish constitution and gives people extensive rights to express their opinions in public, although violence or hate speech is not allowed. Demonstrators must ask the police for permission to hold public meetings. The police can refuse such permission only on exceptional grounds, such as a risk to public safety.

Powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr asked in comments released on Friday whether freedom of speech meant interfering with the beliefs of others. He asked why “not burning the gay rainbow flag represents freedom of expression.”

The cleric said burning the Qur’an “would be enraged.” Hundreds of his supporters gathered outside a mosque in Baghdad waving the Qur’an.

Also, Turkey summoned the Danish ambassador over reports that Paludan would be allowed to burn the Koran during several protests in Copenhagen.

Paludan, who has both Danish and Swedish citizenship, angered Turkey by staging a Koran-burning protest in Sweden on January 21. He told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he would stage a protest in front of the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen every Friday until Sweden is admitted to NATO.

Burning in Copenhagen

On Friday, he burned a copy of the Muslim holy book outside a mosque in Copenhagen. Loud music blared from the mosque as he spoke, an obvious attempt to drown out his words.

“This mosque has no place in Denmark,” Paludan said in a live broadcast on his Facebook page, wearing a protective helmet and surrounded by riot police.

The activist, who had police protection, was then whisked away in a police car.

In a live feed, he said he would repeat the demonstrations outside the Turkish and Russian embassies.

‘Unacceptable’

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said the Danish ambassador was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry where Turkish officials “strongly condemned the permission given to this provocative act, which is clearly a hate crime.”

The ambassador was told that “Danish’s attitude is unacceptable” and that Turkey expects the permit to be revoked, according to Anadolu.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish media that the incident would not change Denmark’s “good relations” with Turkey, adding that Copenhagen intends to talk to Ankara about Denmark’s pro-freedom laws.

“Our task now is to talk to Turkey about the situation in Denmark with an open democracy, and there is a difference between Denmark as a country – and people like that – then about individuals who have different views. “said Lokke Rasmussen.

Paludan’s actions last week sparked outrage in Turkey, which criticized Swedish authorities for allowing the demonstration to take place outside the Turkish Embassy. Turkey’s president has cast serious doubt on NATO expansion, warning Sweden not to expect support for its bid for membership in the military alliance.