[PHOTOS] Quran burning ignites KL protests as hundreds march on embassies

KUALA LUMPUR – The repeated actions of far-right Swedish-Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, who set fire to a copy of the Quran, have ignited scores of protests across the world, including in Malaysia.

It was also compounded by Edwin Wagensveld, who heads the Dutch chapter of the German anti-Islam group Pegida. He tore pages out of the Quran and stepped on them during a recent one-man protest outside the Netherlands Parliament.

On Friday, several groups took to the streets here to raise objections to such actions, mostly calling for Malaysia to take sterner action against Sweden.

It started with the controversial Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia, whose members stood outside the Swedish embassy in the morning, and decried Paludan’s actions as “disrespectful”.

In the afternoon, at least 300 people marched to the Swedish embassy here after Friday prayers, chanting “Long live Islam, long live the Quran, destruction to the West”.

Meanwhile, Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia made a return – this time at the Dutch embassy to oppose Wagensveld’s actions.

The Vibes’ photographers AZIM RAHMAN, ABDUL RAZAK LATIF, and ALIF OMAR were on hand to capture the fervour of the demonstrators, who were determined to make themselves heard. – The Vibes, January 29, 2023