AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Pakistan’s church leaders have expressed solidarity with Muslims and deplored the desecration of the Holy Quran in European countries.
Thousands of Muslims rallied in Pakistan following the Friday prayers on Jan. 27 to denounce the desecration of the Muslim Holy Book in three separate incidents by far-right European leaders.
At least 12,000 people protested in the city of Lahore alone shouting slogans as part of a nationwide protest against the desecration of the Islamic holy book.
“We lament the desecration and burning of the Quran in Sweden, and demand its government to bring the culprit to justice,” said Father James Channan, director of the Dominican Peace Center in Lahore.
The priest was addressing the Jan. 25 Interfaith Peace Conference in the capital Islamabad.
At the meeting, the president of the center, Arif Alvi, urged the international community to take necessary measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Muslims across Asia began protesting after reports of two incidents of Quran desecration began to emerge.
Rasmus Paludan, a far-right activist from Denmark received police permission to protest in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, where he burned the Quran.
A few days later, far-right Dutch leader Edwin Wagensveld of Netherlands, tore pages of the Quran near the Dutch parliament and stomped on them.
Father Bonnie Mendes, the former regional coordinator of Caritas Asia, expressed sadness over the untoward incidents in Europe.
“We have to build bridges and inter-faith harmony. These incidents are very unfortunate. We must all condemn these incidents in the strongest possible terms,” he told UCA News.
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