Pakistan strongly condemns desecration of Holy Quran in Denmark, Netherlands

• FO calls on world to develop legal deterrence to prevent such acts.
• Right to freedom of expression could not be used as a smokescreen.
• Zahra Baloch calls upon int'l human rights machinery to speak out against such intentional actions.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned yet another “abhorrent” act of desecration of the Holy Quran in Denmark and the Netherlands last week, calling it the manifestation of growing hatred and Islamophobia.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, “Such hateful acts are racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic. Their repeated occurrence calls into question the legal framework behind which the Islamophobes hide and spread hatred with impunity.”

The spokesperson said the exercise of the right to freedom of expression could not be used as a smokescreen to deliberately denigrate the Holy Scriptures or personalities of any religion.

She said Pakistan believed that freedom of expression came with responsibilities. Baloch called on the international community to develop legal deterrence with a view to preventing and prosecuting such acts, in line with the responsibilities and duties enshrined in international human rights law.

“We also call upon the international human rights machinery to speak out against such intentional actions that constitute an incitement to hate, discrimination and violence against Muslims solely because of their faith,” the spokesperson remarked.

Moreover, a day earlier Saudi Arabia also strongly condemned the abhorrent act of the desecration of the Holy Quran during the holy month of Ramadan by an extremist group in Denmark in front of the Turkish embassy in Copenhagen.