Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Thousands rally in Pakistan to condemn Sweden Koran burning

Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had called for countrywide protests ‘to uphold the Koran’s sanctity'

Thousands rally in Pakistan to condemn Sweden Koran burning

THOUSANDS of people rallied in streets across Pakistan on Friday (7) to condemn a Koran burning in Sweden that has outraged Muslims around the world.

Last week, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, stomped on the Muslim holy book and set several pages alight outside a Stockholm mosque.

His act came as Muslims across the globe began celebrating the Eid al-Adha holiday and as the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia was drawing to a close.

Earlier this week Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif called for countrywide protests against the burning, declaring Friday "a day to uphold the Koran's sanctity".

Several political parties used the occasion to trumpet their Islamic credentials ahead of an election that must be held later this year, including former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

In the finance hub of Karachi, about 3,000 supporters of the radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) marched for kilometres on Friday, with some beating effigies draped in Swedish flags.

About 5,000 more TLP members rallied in one of at least a dozen protests held in the second-largest city of Lahore.

Swedish flags were burned at rallies across the country, including at Islamabad's Sitara Market.

"Koran is our red line," chanted hundreds of protesters at the market, who held placards calling for the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador and severing of diplomatic ties with Stockholm.

Others trampled on modified Swedish flags that read "#Boycott Sweden" and featured a crossed-out image of prime minister Ulf Kristersson.

Clerics and Imams in mosques across the country condemned the burning in their Friday sermons.

"The entire Islamic world should cut diplomatic ties with Sweden and put economic pressure on Sweden by boycotting its products," Maulana Sheikh Tahir said in a sermon at a mosque in Islamabad.

'Death to Sweden'

Pakistan's imports from Sweden were worth around $311 million in 2021 - the latest year for which data was available - while exports amounted to $194m, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Blasphemy and insults to Islam are galvanising issues in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where leaders have regularly voiced concerns about rising Islamophobia on the international stage.

On Thursday, parliament passed a resolution urging Sweden to take legal action against Momika, and to "ensure that no such act takes place in future".

More than 200 rallies were also held across the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an official said.

"We demand the international community stop the persecution of Muslims by creating effective legislation and stop the desecration of religions and holy books of every religion," Tayyab Qureshi, a cleric, told a gathering of around 1,000 people in the provincial capital Peshawar.

"We cannot allow anyone to desecrate our holy book Koran under the guise of the law of freedom of expression," he said.

Urgent debate


Pakistan's ambassador in Geneva wrote to the UN Human Rights Council president on Monday (3) on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to request an urgent debate.

The council said it would hold the session on July 11 to address "the alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred as manifested by recurrent desecration of the Holy Koran in some European and other countries".

Stockholm has condemned last week's Koran burning as "Islamophobic", but added that Sweden had a "constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration".

Countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco have summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest, echoing widespread denunciations that have included thousands-strong protests near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.

(AFP)

More For You

british-muslims-iStock

The study noted that this identification was not due to any doctrinal obligation but was influenced by the perception that many Muslims do not feel fully accepted as British. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Majority of British Muslims identify by faith first, study finds

A STUDY by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) has found that most British Muslims identify primarily with their religion rather than their nationality.

The research, based on a survey of 815 British Muslim adults by Whitestone Insight, revealed that 71 per cent of respondents identified as Muslim first, while 27 per cent identified as British, English, or Scottish first.

Keep ReadingShow less
Car Tax Changes: EV Owners Now Required to Pay for the First Time

Owners of electric vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025 will pay £10 for the first year, followed by the standard VED rate of £195 from the second year. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Car tax changes take effect: EV owners to pay for first time

FROM today, 1 April 2025, electric cars, vans, and motorcycles in the UK will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time.

The change, introduced in the 2022 Autumn Statement by former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, aims to make motoring taxation fairer.

Keep ReadingShow less
scotland-minimum-wages-iStock

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will receive an annual pay increase of £1,400 in real terms. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Wage increase takes effect for thousands of workers in Scotland

HUNDREDS of thousands of workers in Scotland will see a pay increase as new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates take effect from Tuesday.

The changes will benefit approximately 220,000 people, according to STV News.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk-energy-bill-iStock

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

April bill increases put financial strain on single parents

A RANGE of essential household bills are increasing from April, with Citizens Advice warning that single parents will be among the hardest hit.

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased, BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Netflix drama Adolescence to be screened in UK schools
Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper in 'Adolescence'
Netflix

Netflix drama Adolescence to be screened in UK schools

THE NETFLIX drama Adolescence will be shown in UK secondary schools as part of efforts to address harmful online influences on young boys, officials announced on Monday.

The show has sparked debate over the impact of toxic and misogynistic content on the internet. Prime minister Keir Starmer met the show's creators, charities, and young people at Downing Street, calling the initiative an important step in starting discussions about the content teenagers are exposed to online.

Keep ReadingShow less