Pakistan Praises Denmark's Plan to Criminalize Quran-Burning
© AFP 2023 / NOAH SEELAM
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Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard unveiled a plan earlier in the week to put an end to the desecration of religious texts, such as the Quran or the Bible, in the country by expanding the existing ban on the burning of foreign flags.
Pakistan has applauded Denmark's decision to criminalize the public desecration of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, and other religious texts and objects of significance.
"This, we believe, is a step in the right direction," the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani took to the social media platform X on Saturday to write that he had conversed with Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who reiterated the Danish government’s commitment to respecting religious sensitivities.
X screengrab of post by Pakistan's caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani.
© Photo : @JalilJilani/X(Twitter)
Previously, acts of public desecration of the Muslim holy book in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, following similar actions in Sweden, had triggered protests and diplomatic tensions between the Nordic countries and Muslim-majority nations. Most Muslim countries condemned the actions, with some summoning the Swedish and Danish ambassadors to give them notes of protest. In July, hundreds of Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy after the burning of the Quran in Stockholm.
X screengrab of post by Pakistan's caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani.
© Photo : @JalilJilani/X(Twitter)
"This, we believe, is a step in the right direction. Pakistan has always maintained that desecration and burning of holy scriptures constitute a serious act of religious hatred, which must not be permitted under the guise of freedom of expression, opinion and protest,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website on Saturday.
The ministry added that it hoped after Denmark set in place legislation “to curb the desecration of the Holy Quran and other divine books,” other countries might follow suit.
The Danish government had formulated a bill proposing a ban on burning the Quran in public places a day earlier. On Friday, both Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard and the country's Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, revealed that the proposed move was an "important political signal" that Denmark sought to send to the world.
The proposed bill would make it a criminal offence to burn the Holy Quran, the Bible or the Torah publicly, with offenders facing up to two years imprisonment and fines over the desecration of the holy books. The bill is to be presented to lawmakers on September 1 and will be “dealt with if necessary before the end of the parliamentary year,” the Justice Ministry said.
Previously, Denmark had adopted the stance that incidents of Quran-burning were protected as freedom of expression. However, a recent poll showed that slightly over a half of Danes believe there should be a ban in place on protests that involve the burning of the Quran. The Megafon survey conducted for a local TV news channel and made public on Saturday showed that 51% of 1,008 people polled either totally or mostly agreed with the government’s motion to ban Quran-burning outside of embassies, while 39% were against it.
Once the news broke on Friday, Sweden waded in on the issue. Stockholm has no plans to ban the burning of religious texts, as Denmark seeks to do, because it would require amending the kingdom's constitution, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said.
"Every country that is exposed to acute threats chooses its own way of dealing with them. I have a lot of respect for what Denmark is doing right now [initiatives to ban religious book burning]. To do exactly the same as in Denmark would probably require a constitutional amendment, so it is not the right way for Sweden to go about it," Kristersson said.
On August 18, the Swedish authorities said they would review the public order law that permits Quran-burning protests in the country. Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said that a public gathering could be banned if public order or safety were endangered.
26 August 2023, 10:56 GMT
