LAHORE – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given a call for nationwide demonstrations on July 7 (Friday) to protest against the desecration of the Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque in Sweden.
During a meeting on Tuesday, the PM decided to observe Friday as Yaum-i-Taqaddus-i- Quran (day to uphold the sanctity of Holy Quran) and to hold a nationwide protest against the incident of tiring apparat a copy of the holy book.
According to a statement issued by the ruling party, the PM has appealed to the entire nation, including all political parties, to participate in the protests so that the entire nation could convey a strong message to the miscreants. He also directed his party to fully participate in the protests and take-out rallies across the country. He also decided to convene a joint session of the Parliament on Thursday for evolving a national plan of action on the Sweden incident. He said that the sentiments of the nation should be fully expressed through the Parliament. He said that a joint resolution should be passed in the joint session of the Parliament.
He said that honoring the Holy Quran is part of faith and the entire nation is united for it. He said that misguided minds were following a nefarious agenda by spreading the negative trend of Islamophobia. He said that peace-loving nations and leaders around the world who believe in co-existence should block the path of violent forces spreading Islamophobia and religious prejudices.
The PM said that violent minds targeting religion, venerated personalities, beliefs and ideas were a threat to world peace and forces that believed in peaceful, balanced and interfaith harmony at the global level should work together to control such trends and incidents.
Addressing the cabinet meeting, the PM said the whole ummah, government and people of Pakistan strongly condemned desecration of the Holy Quran. He demanded immediate action against the perpetrator. He demanded the Swedish government to take notice of the hateful narrative against the Muslim population. He appreciated the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for convening an urgent meeting on the issue and said Pakistan endorsed the OIC’s meeting and its decision with the hope of averting such incidents in future.
On Sunday, the OIC had called an emergency meeting and said collective measures were needed to prevent acts of desecration of the Holy Quran and that international law should be used to stop religious hatred after the burning incident in Sweden.
UN calls urgent meeting on Pakistan’s request against Quran desecration in Sweden
