KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia condemns, in the strongest terms, the Islamophobic act of a Swedish-Danish politician in burning a copy of the Quran, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In a statement, Anwar decried the burning of Islam’s holy book by extremist Swedish-Danish far-right politician, Rasmus Paludan, in Stockholm, Sweden, yesterday.
“Malaysia urges the Swedish government to take urgent measures against the perpetrators of this vile act, as well as ensuring drastic steps in the future to address the alarming rise of Islamophobia in Sweden,” he said.
“Such a blatant defilement of Islam’s holy book by the Swedish politician and the inaction are tantamount to fomenting Islamophobia, and constitutes a grave provocation to the sensitivities of not just Turkiye, but more than two billion Muslims in the world,” he added.
Anwar also denounced continuous global hate crimes against Muslims, including the incitement of hatred and racism, whether verbally or through actions.
“Malaysia denounces the repeated hate crimes targeting Muslims in the world, as well as all forms of incitement to hatred and the fanning of racism in word or deed, and views with grave concern the rising tide of hate speech on account of faith or ethnicity,” said the prime minister.
Anwar restated the importance of maintaining principles of mutual respect when settling disputes.
He also reminded the international community to reject racial and religious baiting under the guise of freedom of expression and to also remain united against all forms of hate and violent incitement.
Paludan is a Swedish-Danish far-right extremist politician, mostly associated with his anti-Islam activism and demonstrations. The Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party leader began “touring” Sweden last year, publicly burning copies of the Quran.
He was given permission to burn the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm yesterday, based on Sweden’s liberal constitution – which protects the right to demonstrate, according to police there.
Following his demonstration, Ankara cancelled a visit with Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson, where they were supposed to discuss and overcome Turkiye’s objections to Sweden’s bid to join the Nato military alliance. – The Vibes, January 22, 2023
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