Thousands of Pakistanis protest against burning a Quran copy in Sweden

Thousands of Pakistanis took to the streets across the country on Friday to protest against the burning of a copy of the Quran in Sweden in late June, an act that sparked anger in the Islamic world.

On June 28th, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden named Sowan Mumtaz burned pages from a copy of the Quran in front of the largest mosque in Stockholm during the Eid al-Adha holiday.

In response, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif earlier this week called for protests across the country after Friday prayers and urged people to dedicate the day to defending the "sanctity of the Quran."

Other political parties, including the opposition movement Tehreek-e-Insaf led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, also called on their supporters to demonstrate.

Protesters burned Swedish flags in several areas, including the Sitara Market in Islamabad.

Hundreds of demonstrators in the market chanted "The Quran is our red line," calling for the severing of diplomatic relations with Sweden and the expulsion of its ambassador.

Some trampled on Swedish flags with the hashtag "#BoycottSweden" and a crossed-out image of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Kristersson.

In the economic capital of Karachi (south), around 3,000 supporters of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba marched for miles, some of them hitting dolls covered with the Swedish flag with sticks.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind many recent anti-blasphemy protests that have paralyzed major Pakistani cities. On Friday, it also mobilized around 5,000 people in Lahore (east), the country's second-largest city.

Sheikh Tahir stated in a sermon at a mosque in Islamabad, "The entire Muslim world must sever diplomatic relations with Sweden and exert economic pressure on Sweden by boycotting its products."

The issue of blasphemy is particularly sensitive in Pakistan, where allegations of blasphemy can lead to extrajudicial killings.

On Thursday, the Pakistani parliament passed a resolution urging Sweden to bring Mumtaz to justice and "ensure that such acts are not repeated in the future."

Around two hundred demonstrations were organized in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (northwest).

Maulana Taib Qureshi, addressing around a thousand people in the provincial capital of Peshawar, said, "We call on the international community to stop oppressing Muslims by enacting appropriate legislation and halting the desecration of religions and holy books of all faiths."

He added, "We cannot allow anyone to desecrate the Holy Quran under the guise of freedom of expression."

Protesters who burned the Swedish flag chanted slogans such as "Expel the Swedish ambassador" and "Death to Sweden," according to a correspondent from Agence France-Presse at the scene.

Pakistan has repeatedly expressed its concerns internationally about what it perceives as a rise in Islamophobia worldwide.

 

AFP