Islamabad: People in Pakistan took out rallies on Friday against the desecration of the Quran in Sweden after the Islamic nation’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for protests over the “disheartening incident” in Stockholm.
An Iraqi-born refugee burnt the Muslim holy book outside a mosque on the first day of Eid al-Adha last week.
Rallies were held in all major cities of Pakistan and local religious leaders, in their addresses, condemned the act of desecration and demanded action against the culprit.
The flag of Sweden was also burnt in a protest in Islamabad where protesters chanted: The holy Quran is our red line’.
The protests came after Prime Minister Sharif urged people to stage peaceful protests.
“When it comes to the (matter of) Quran, the (entire) nation is united. The entire Muslim Ummah is disturbed by the incident in Sweden,” he tweeted on Friday.
He said the nation will unite to protest to “express their feelings and emotions over the disheartening incident”.
He said after the Friday afternoon prayers, “all classes of Pakistani Muslims will raise the flag of the Holy Quran’s honour and record their peaceful protest”.
“The Holy Quran is in our hearts. The Holy Quran is not only a recitation for us but a guideline for living,” Sharif said.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution to condemn the burning of the Quran.
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