Pakistan welcomes Denmark's move to ban desecration of Holy Quran

Pakistan on Saturday welcomed the Danish government's proposal to outlaw the desecration of the Holy Quran and other divine books in the country.

In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch termed the development a "step in the right direction."

She hoped the step taken by Denmark would culminate in effective legislation to curb the desecration of the Holy Quran and other divine books.

The Danish government said on Friday it was proposing legislation that would make it illegal to burn the Holy Quran.

Earlier, in his interaction with the Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, while appreciating the Danish Government's 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.

The spokesperson hoped that other countries would emulate and undertake similar steps to outlaw such hateful acts.

The spokesperson said 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.

She said 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.

Baloch said the recurrent incidents of the Holy Quran's desecration during the last few months hurt the sentiments of over 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide.

Such abhorrent acts intend to create friction among communities and harm inter-faith harmony and mutual respect.

The spokesperson said it is the responsibility of national governments to take all measures necessary to prevent these acts of religious hatred, xenophobia, and Islamophobia.

Over the past few months, incidents involving the burning of the Holy Quran in Denmark have sparked outrage in the Muslim world, including Pakistan.

Many Muslim-majority nations have expressed their disgust, including by pressuring Denmark to make it illegal to burn sacred texts.

Denmark and Sweden have seen a string of protests in public in recent weeks where copies of the Holy Quran have been burned or otherwise damaged.

Neighbouring Sweden has also said it is examining ways to legally limit Holy Quran desecrations to reduce tensions after recent threats that led the country’s security officials to raise the terrorist threat level.