Pakistan Minority Groups Slam Quran Desecration in Norway
A large number of members of the Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities participated in the protest to condemn the Norway incident and express solidarity with the Muslims, The News reported.
In a joint press release, Joseph Cardinal Coutts, archbishop of Karachi, and Very Rev. Fr. Saleh Diego said it was a sad moment for everyone and the Christians were condemning the desecration of the Quran. “We should respect all the religions and expect others to respect ours.”
The protesters demanded that the Norwegian government strictly handle such actions and bring the perpetrators to justice. A Christian woman, Advocate Tabasum, said the incident had hurt sentiments of the Muslims. She said Norwegians were peaceful people and Norway enjoyed a good reputation around the world as it respected the rights of other religions but this act of few fundamentalists has tarnished its image.
ICPH Chairman Allama Muhammad Ahsan Siddiqui condemned the incident and requested the United Nations to address this issue for the sake of harmony and peace in the world. Such sacrilegious acts go against the concept of inter-faith harmony and threaten the multicultural fabric of societies, he said.
Pakistan Sikh Council Patron-in-Chief Sardar Ramesh Singh said, “Being a Sikh, I strongly condemned this shameful act as it is against the teaching of my religion too.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Saturday summoned the Norwegian ambassador to convey concern over the desecration of the Muslim holy book in Norwegian city of Kristiansand.
“Pakistan’s condemnation of this action was reiterated. It was underscored that such actions hurt the sentiments of 1.3 billion Muslims around the world, including those in Pakistan. Furthermore, such actions could not be justified in the name of freedom of expression," said a statement by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
“The Norwegian authorities were urged to bring those responsible to justice and to prevent the recurrence of any such incident in the future,” the statement added, according to Anadolu Agency.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Pakistan’s ambassador in Oslo has also been instructed to convey Pakistan’s protest to the Norwegian authorities,
The extreme right-wing group, Stop the Islamization of Norway (SION), in Norway held a protest against Islam last week.
SION members were prevented from burning a copy of the Quran by police. However, the group's leader insulted the scripture held sacred by Muslims by throwing it in a waste container.
