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Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned yet another incident of the desecration of the Holy Quran in The Netherlands, calling upon the European country to take swift action against such \u201chateful and Islamophobic acts\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan condemns in the strongest terms the latest senseless and deeply offensive act of desecration of the Holy Quran that took place in The Hague, the Netherlands in front of some embassies of OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) member countries, including Pakistan,\u201d the Foreign Office (FO) said in a press release issued today.<\/p>\n
Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah<\/em> had reported<\/a> on Saturday that Dutch far-right activist Edwin Wagensveld, who leads the Dutch branch of the far-right group Pegida, had desecrated the Holy Quran in front of the Turkish, Pakistani and Indonesian embassies in the Hague and \u201cinsulted Islam and Muslims\u201d.<\/p>\n The FO said the \u201cdeliberately provocative and Islamophobic act\u201d hurt the sentiments of Muslims around the world and such actions could not be condoned under the \u201cguise of freedom of expression, opinion and protest\u201d.<\/p>\n It added that Pakistan had conveyed its concerns to the Dutch authorities, urging them to be \u201cmindful of the sentiments\u201d of the people of Pakistan and Muslims around the world and take active steps to prevent such \u201chateful and Islamophobic acts\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPakistan believes that freedom of expression comes with responsibilities. National governments should actively prevent racist and Islamophobic acts, which incite religious hatred.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important for the international community to raise its voice against Islamophobia and work in concert to promote interfaith harmony. That was the spirit behind the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2022 to mark March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia,\u201d the FO said.<\/p>\n Separately, Saudi Arabia also issued a condemnation and denounced the incident in a statement posted earlier today on the social media platform X.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates the Kingdom\u2019s strong condemnation of these reprehensible and recurring acts that cannot be justified under any circumstances. Such acts clearly promote hatred, exclusion, and racism, and directly contradict international efforts to promote values of tolerance, moderation, and the rejection of extremism,\u201d the country\u2019s foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi called for \u201curgent and effective international steps to confront these aggressive and provocative actions against Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n The OIC also criticised the \u201cprovocative act\u201d in a statement<\/a> issued a day ago.<\/p>\n It had called on the Dutch authorities to take necessary measures against such provocative acts and prevent their recurrence.<\/p>\n Last month, Wagensveld had trampled on and tore up<\/a> a copy of the Holy Quran at a demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in The Hague, infuriating dozens of counter-protesters.<\/p>\n The Dutch government had already condemned the holding of the demonstration ahead of the event but said it had no legal powers to prevent it.<\/p>\n Similar incidents<\/a> of the Holy Quran\u2019s desecration have taken place in other European countries recently. In late July, two men set fire to a copy of the Quran in front of the Swedish parliament<\/a>, and similar incidents have taken place in Denmark this year.<\/p>\n Such demonstrations have provoked anger and condemnations<\/a> and sometimes unrest in several Muslim countries.<\/p>\n