Pakistan on Tuesday condemned in strongest terms the reportedly despicable act of burning of the Holy Quran by Wayne Sapp under the supervision of the infamous Terry Jones in Florida. Commenting on this report, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar stated that such a reprehensible act could only be the work of extremists and is evidently designed to provoke discord among communities and people across the world.
"Such sacrilegious acts go against the very concept of inter-faith harmony. There could be no justification for such acts. This has deeply hurt the feelings of the people of Pakistan and Muslims all over the world," she added.
Pakistan expects that the US Administration and the American people as well as all civilised societies will take due cognisance and express their revulsion on this sacrilegious act.
As a strong proponent of inter-faith harmony, Pakistan believes that in troubled times, civilised peoples and societies must resist and oppose any tendency, which breeds "extremism" of any kind. Meanwhile, the US Embassy issued a statement to condemn the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran in the State of Florida, United States saying 'this is an isolated act done by a small group of people that is contrary to American traditions. It does not reflect the general sentiment of respect toward Islam by the people of the United States.'
"The deliberate destruction of any holy book is an abhorrent act," said Ambassador Cameron P Munter. "The US commitment to freedom of religion and freedom of expression goes back to the founding of our nation and is enshrined in the Constitution. We absolutely reject religious intolerance in any form."