ISLAMABAD: Pakistan welcomed the reported decision by the Denmark government to propose a bill, which would outlaw the burning of the Holy Quran and other divine books.

“This, we believe, is a step in the right direction. Pakistan has always maintained that desecration and burning of holy books constituted a serious act of religious hatred, which must not be permitted under the guise of freedom of expression, opinion and protest,” Foreign Office said in a statement.

As stipulated by international human rights law and called for by the UN Human Rights Council, it stated that such provocative acts must be prevented and prohibited through legal means.

It added that the recurrent incidents of the Holy Quran’s desecration during the last few months have hurt the sentiments of over 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide.

It further stated that such abhorrent acts intend to create friction among communities and harm inter-faith harmony and mutual respect.

The Foreign Office further stated that it is the responsibility of national governments to take all measures necessary to prevent these acts of religious hatred, xenophobia and Islamophobia.

“We hope the step taken by Denmark today would culminate in effective legislation to curb the desecration of the Holy Quran and other divine books. We also hope that other countries will emulate and undertake similar steps to outlaw such hateful acts,” it added.

In his interaction with the Danish Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, it added that 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.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023