ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has welcomed the decision by the Danish government to propose a bill to outlaw the burning of the Holy Quran and other divine books.
“This, we believe, is a step in the right direction,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement on Saturday.
She said Pakistan has always maintained that desecration and burning of holy scriptures constituted a serious act of religious hatred, which must not be permitted under the guise of freedom of expression, opinion and protest.
“As stipulated by international human rights law and called for by the UN Human Rights Council, such provocative acts must be prevented and prohibited through legal means,” the statement added.
The FO spokesperson said the recurrent incidents of the Holy Quran’s desecration in recent months have hurt the sentiments of over 1.6 billion Muslims across the world. Such abhorrent acts intend to create friction among communities and harm inter-faith harmony and mutual respect. It is the responsibility of national governments to take all measures necessary to prevent these acts of religious hatred, xenophobia and Islamophobia.
“We hope the step taken by Denmark today would culminate in effective legislation to curb the desecration of the Holy Quran and other divine books. We also hope that other countries will emulate and undertake similar steps to outlaw such hateful acts” she said.
In his interaction with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, while appreciating the proposed legislation, expressed the hope that the bill, when passed, would create interfaith harmony and bring an end to an environment of hatred amongst people of different religious faiths.
“Had a welcome exchange with Foreign Minister @ larsloekke, who reiterated the Danish government’s strong commitment to respecting these religious sensitivities. Looking forward to working closely with him to advance our common interests,” Mr Jilani posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Pakistan appreciates the Danish govt’s proposed legislation to criminalise improper treatment of religious texts and objects of significant importance, including the Holy Quran,” he said.
Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2023
