(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Another senior British politician has resorted to desecrating Muslims’ holy book, the Qur’an, in his bid to win more support from among members of his party.
Sion Owens, a senior member of the British National Party (BNP) and candidate for the upcoming Welsh Assembly elections has been arrested for burning a copy of the holy Qur’an in his garden.
It is turning to a popular trick among Western politicians to misuse their people’s feelings, which are fed up with hatred against Muslims and Islam in general and garner more votes in a society filled with hatred.
The senior BNP member is also no exception, since he has posted a video on the You Tube website showing himself burning a copy of the holy Qur’an.
The footage clearly identifies Owens, who is wearing a “Whitelaw No Surrender” T-shirt in the video and starts with the holy Qur’an lying in a Quality Street chocolate tin before Owens douses the holy book in flammable liquid and then sets fire to it. The camera zooms in as the holy book burns.
As for the evidence, the far-right British politician knows well how to ride a wave of Islamophobic feelings among the illiterate public instigated by others such as US pastor Terry Jones to win more support.
Last month, the Florida pastor, whose past private life is full of unanswered questions, resorted to Islam to gather fame but in an inhumane manner. The pastor burned a copy of the Muslims’ holy book and became the latest examples of people whom Almighty Allah have mercy on them and gives them the chance to return to the just path by allowing them to desecrate Him.
In the Netherlands last year, Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders faced five counts of giving offence to Muslims and of inciting hatred against Muslims in numerous public statements since October 2006.
He shot to international notoriety in 2008 with the release of his short film, Fitna, which mixes Qur’anic verses with footage of extremist attacks.
However, in the case of UK politician Sion Owens, the government reacted angrily when a leaked video clip of him burning the holy Qur’an was sent to the South Wales police.
“The government absolutely condemns the burning of the Qur’an. It is fundamentally offensive to the values of our pluralist and tolerant society”, said the Home Office in a statement.
“We equally condemn any attempts to create divisions between communities and are committed to ensuring that everyone has the freedom to live their lives free from fear of targeted hostility or harassment on the grounds of a particular characteristic, such as religion,” it said.
“We always adopt an extremely robust approach to allegations of this sort and find this sort of intolerance unacceptable in our society”, said South Wales police Superintendent Phil Davies, who led the investigation.
End item/ 149
