Respect religious beliefs of Muslims, China tells Sweden on Quran burning incident
Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) group, burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden's southern Linkoping city last week.
Condemning the recent incident took place involving the burning of copies of the Holy Quran, China, on Wednesday asked Sweden to respect religious beliefs of Muslims.
The incident triggered widespread condemnation across the Muslim world.
Middle East Monitor with reference to the Chinese daily, Global Times quoted Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry, as saying, “Freedom of speech cannot be a reason to incite racial or cultural discrimination and tear society apart.” He added “We hope Sweden can earnestly respect the religious beliefs of minority groups, including Muslims.”
It must be recalled that Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) group, burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden’s southern Linkoping city last week. He also threatened to burn copies of the Holy book of Muslims in future rallies.
Several Arab and Muslim countries and organisations including Turkey, Saudi Arabia condemned the incident and termed the act as provocation and incitement against Muslims.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation also strongly condemned the incident. “The provocative actions of burning copies of the Holy Quran during anti-Muslim demonstrations, which have been taking place in Linkoping, Norrkoping and other cities in Sweden,” denounced its chief, Hissein Brahim Taha.
