Pakistan backs OIC call for collective action over latest Quran burning in Sweden

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan on Monday voiced its support for collective measures by Muslim nations to prevent future Quran burnings after the Muslim holy book was desecrated in Sweden last week.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in the capital Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the Scandinavian country to take "serious action" over the burning of the holy Quran last Wednesday in Stockholm, demanding an investigation into the incident.

"Unfortunately, this is not the first incident to take place ... such heart-wrenching incidents have taken place previously as well. They highlight that Muslims in Sweden, who are a minority, are facing Islamophobia and hatred," Sharif said, according to state-run broadcaster Pakistan Television.

Stressing that the Pakistani government and people both "strongly" condemn the narrative of hatred and discrimination that played a role in the burning, Sharif said Islamabad supported a call by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for collective measures to prevent the recurrence of such provocative acts.

The call was made at an extraordinary session of the OIC's executive committee in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss the consequences of the latest of a string of recent Quran burnings.

A 37-year-old man of Iraqi origin, Salwan Momika, publicly burned a copy of the Quran in front of Stockholm Mosque in Sweden last Wednesday while under police protection on​​​​​​​

This act was deliberately timed to coincide with Eid al-Adha, a significant Islamic religious festival observed by Muslims worldwide.

The incident has sparked widespread condemnation from across the Islamic world, including Türkiye, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Senegal, Morocco, and Mauritania.

In a separate incident back in January, a far-right politician also set fire to a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Sweden.