Desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden, Challenges and Peacebuilding Efforts
The Muslim community in Pakistan is preparing for the arrival of Muharram after celebrating Eid-ul-Adah, Meanwhile, the incident of desecration of the Holy Quran by an atheist in Sweden has increased the anger of Muslims. the Muslim community started protesting against the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
After the Holy Quran was burnt in Sweden, a wave of anxiety and fear spread among the Christians across Pakistan. A post by a religious group was widely shared on social media calling for targeting Pakistani Christians and places of worship.
Pastor Haroon Ajmal of the Church of Pakistan shared this post with me. After which, on my request, a meeting of representatives of Roman Catholic, Protestant, Church of Pakistan, and Pentecostal churches was held in Christ Church at 11 am on Tuesday 4th July 2023. The meeting considered the posts against Christians on social media and a plan for a future response.
In this meeting, it was decided that Christians condemn the desecration of the holy book in the Sweden incident, in order to show solidarity with the Muslim community with condemnation banners, condemnation statements, and, if possible, condemnation rallies will be organized outside the churches. It was jointly decided that protest rallies will be held on Thursday.
The government of Pakistan issued instructions to organize protest rallies in the entire country regarding the greatness of the Quran on Friday. The members who attended this meeting decided that by organizing rallies on Thursday, the clear stand of Christians will be conveyed to the Muslim community and this positive action will promote religious harmony and inter-faith dialogue in Gujranwala.
It was also decided that in today’s meeting, the strong condemnation of the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden should be given effective newspaper coverage and publicized on social media.
I shared the pictures, written messages, and press coverage of the condemnation meeting with the leaders of the political, social, and religious parties of the Muslim community, as well as with the division, district, and senior police officers.
This meeting proved to be very effective. In Sweden, solidarity and messages against the desecration of the Holy Quran were appreciated at all levels. In this regard, I received phone calls and messages from Muslim political, social, and religious leaders thanking me for showing solidarity with the Muslim community.
In order to implement the decisions of the meeting of 4th July 2023, a condemnation meeting of the Church leaders was held on 6th July 2023 at The Rock Church in Francisabad, Gujranwala, which I had the honor of presiding over. All the Christian political, social, and religious leaders in their respective messages condemned the Sweden incident and termed it as a conspiracy to destroy the peace of the world and sent a message to their Muslim brothers that Pakistani Christians stand by their side.
It may be mentioned here that the rally could not be held due to inclement weather and messages of condemnation were shared with the Muslim community and newspaper clippings were also shared.
However, condemnation rallies were organized in several other areas of Gujranwala.
On Monday, July 10, a protest rally was held under the auspices of Ahle-Sunnat wa-ul-Jamaat Hanafi Deobandi, in which I was specially invited to participate. It was an honor for me to represent the Christian community there and in my address, I expressed solidarity with the Muslim brothers and told them that we value and respect the religious sentiments of the followers of any religion and the Sweden incident is a heart-felt one. And it is a sad incident that is fully condemned.
Hurting the sentiments and feelings of the followers of any religion under the guise of freedom of expression is a very painful act. Which is strongly condemned. Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church, strongly condemned the act of burning the Holy Quran in Sweden.
