Alliance of Civilizations and several other Muslim-majority nations denounce stunt by Danish far-right celebration chief.
The excessive consultant of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations has condemned the burning of the Muslim holy guide by a Swedish-Danish far-right politician as a “vile act”.
Rasmus Paludan, chief of the Danish far-right political celebration Arduous Line, carried out the stunt outdoors the Turkish embassy in Sweden underneath the safety of native police on Friday.
“Whereas the Excessive Consultant stresses the significance of upholding the liberty of expression as a elementary human proper, he additionally emphasises that the act of Quran-burning, quantities to an expression of hatred in direction of Muslims,” a spokesperson for Miguel Angel Moratinos mentioned in an announcement launched on Sunday.
“It’s disrespectful and insulting to the adherents of Islam and shouldn’t be conflated with freedom of expression,” the assertion added.
Moratinos, who heads a UN company that describes itself as “dedicated to selling understanding throughout numerous communities”, mentioned he was involved in regards to the rise in “discrimination, intolerance and violence … directed towards members of many non secular and different communities in numerous components of the world”.
He referred to as for the constructing of “mutual respect” and promotion of “inclusive and peaceable societies rooted in human rights and dignity for all”.
‘Racist motion’
Shortly after Paludan burned a duplicate of the Quran, Turkey’s international minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, condemned Swedish authorities for failing to ban the protest.
“It’s a racist motion. It’s not about freedom of expression,” he mentioned.
Arab nations – together with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait – have additionally denounced the stunt in addition to different Muslim-majority nations akin to Pakistan and Somalia.
“Permitting this hateful act that insults Islamic sanctities and values is totally unacceptable,” Somalia’s international ministry mentioned in an announcement on Monday. “It’s nothing however a demagogic apply that promotes hatred and racism and serves the agendas of extremism and terrorism.”
In a submit on Twitter, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson mentioned that whereas freedom of expression was a elementary a part of democracy, “what’s authorized shouldn’t be essentially acceptable.”
“Burning books which might be holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act,” he mentioned.
A gaggle of protesters gathered outdoors the Swedish embassy in Ankara over the weekend to decry the Quran burning. In Bangladesh, individuals additionally demonstrated towards the incident.
In April, Paludan’s announcement of a Quran-burning “tour” through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan sparked riots throughout Sweden.