Unrest in Sweden over planned Quran burnings

[MenInG]

There has been a third night of unrest in Sweden after protests against a far-right group which burned a copy of the Quran and planned to do so again.

Violence broke out in the city of Malmö late on Saturday after a gathering of the Stram Kurs, or Hard Line, movement led by the extremist Rasmus Paludan.

Vehicles were set on fire, and some protesters threw stones at the police.

A number of other clashes between the police and counter-demonstrators have hit Sweden in recent days.

At least 16 police officers are reported to have been injured and several police vehicles destroyed in unrest that followed the far-right group's rallies, including in the suburbs of Stockholm and in the towns of Linköping and Norrköping.

Sweden's national police chief Anders Thornberg said demonstrators had shown an indifference to the lives of police officers, adding: "We have seen violent riots before. But this is something else."

Outrage at the far right group's actions - which included burning a copy of the Muslim holy book on Thursday, and planning to do so again at other rallies - has also spread beyond Sweden's borders.

Iraq's foreign ministry summoned the Swedish charge d'affaires in Baghdad on Sunday and warned the affair could have "serious repercussions" for relations between Sweden and Muslim communities in general.

Protests against plans by Stram Kurs to burn the Quran have turned violent in Sweden before. In 2020, protesters set cars on fire and shop fronts were damaged in clashes in Malmö.

Paludan - who was jailed for a month in 2020 for offences including racism in Denmark - has also attempted to plan similar burnings of the Quran in other European countries, including France and Belgium.

BBC

 

[Kianig89]

Absolutely shameful hopefully our Ulma and Govt will raise their voice on this issue

 

[KingKhanWC]

Rasmus Paludan(the organiser) is a peadophile. This came to light after an investigation by a Danish newspaper. He has also been convicted of harrasment for stalking a yonger man for 3 years.

Previous such hates events by him also led to arrests.

Its idiotic of the government to allow a peado to incite more hate.

Imo let him be or protest peacefully with large placards saying no to peados.

 

[Kroll]

Absolutely shameful hopefully our Ulma and Govt will raise their voice on this issue

Attention seeking losers, shouldn't be given a platform and any coverage at all.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Attention seeking losers, shouldn't be given a platform and any coverage at all.

Agree. I think the problem is due to the immense Islamaphobia, many Muslims esp the youth have had enough. They also probably dont realise the Prophet(pbuh) sent written copies of Quranic texts to various cultures/kings, some set the pages on fire but this isnt an issue for Muslims. No power in the universe can alter , change or destroy Gods words, they are protected for eternity.

 

[shaz619]

Rasmus Paludan(the organiser) is a peadophile. This came to light after an investigation by a Danish newspaper. He has also been convicted of harrasment for stalking a yonger man for 3 years.

Previous such hates events by him also led to arrests.

Its idiotic of the government to allow a peado to incite more hate.

Imo let him be or protest peacefully with large placards saying no to peados.

Plenty of folk from certain countries around these parts would defend that bloke, which leads me to believe there are quiet a few pedo’s out there or pedo sympathisers

 

[Rana]

I’m all for freedom of speech and expression but there are certain actions that are unacceptable and the Islamic power nations such as Turkey and Egypt really need to take serious action.

The US practically got away with sending air strike killing colonel Sulaimani. What’s stopping Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and any other powerful sovereign Muslim state sending a warning missile on non civilian targets in countries like Denmark and Sweden who are adamant on offending Muslims for the sake of it?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

This is quite sad. Swedes used to be so mild mannered and well behaved when I was growing up. I was good friends with a beautiful blonde Swede who was over on an exchange visit when I was a student, and she was so warm and friendly I can barely bring myself to think of Swedes as angry and resentful in today's world.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Plenty of folk from certain countries around these parts would defend that bloke, which leads me to believe there are quiet a few pedo’s out there or pedo sympathisers

Yes many of them are . Evil breeds other evils bro. One of the EDL's senior members was also convincted of offences against children.

Like Tommy Robinson most of these groups or their leaders are funded by the likes of Israel. Islamaphobia for them is a positive as it allows them to continue their oppression and occupation.

 

[oatmeal]

These attention seekers only do it for the outrage and hope to cause violence, and use that violence to harden the opinion of white swedes against immigration and Muslims in general

Its best to ignore fringe elements, or otherwise protest peacefully.

 

[Lego20]

I’m all for freedom of speech and expression but there are certain actions that are unacceptable and the Islamic power nations such as Turkey and Egypt really need to take serious action.

The US practically got away with sending air strike killing colonel Sulaimani. What’s stopping Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and any other powerful sovereign Muslim state sending a warning missile on non civilian targets in countries like Denmark and Sweden who are adamant on offending Muslims for the sake of it?

This is the problem with many Muslims. Someone burns Quran in some other country and you want to bomb that country.

No other religion on this planet has such lunatics.

 

[KingKhanWC]

This is the problem with many Muslims. Someone burns Quran in some other country and you want to bomb that country.

No other religion on this planet has such lunatics.

Have you not heard of India and the RSS in government? They are Hindus.

Many Muslims? Do you have a number since Muslims are nearly 2 billion?

 

[Mamoon]

Islamophobia is largely self-inflicted because the Muslim world has been a failure for over a century.

There are only a select few prosperous Muslim countries in the world and they have tried to mimic western culture or give more liberty and freedom than allowed in Islam.

Even KSA is slowly but surely deregulating.

There is nothing to admire about the Muslim community, and to make matters worse, there are far more organized terrorize groups under than banner of Islam than under the banner of other religions/atheism.

You combine all these reasons and it is normal to be Islamaphobic if you are non-Muslim.

Furthermore, this stuff only happens because Muslims are by far the easiest group of people to offend.

If they start ignoring such incidents instead of engaging in vandalism and doing fake boycotts, these things will not happen.

They want a reaction from the Muslim community and they succeed every single time.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Islamophobia is largely self-inflicted because the Muslim world has been a failure for over a century.

There are only a select few prosperous Muslim countries in the world and they have tried to mimic western culture or give more liberty and freedom than allowed in Islam.

Even KSA is slowly but surely deregulating.

There is nothing to admire about the Muslim community, and to make matters worse, there are far more organized terrorize groups under than banner of Islam than under the banner of other religions/atheism.

You combine all these reasons and it is normal to be Islamaphobic if you are non-Muslim.

Furthermore, this stuff only happens because Muslims are by far the easiest group of people to offend.

If they start ignoring such incidents instead of engaging in vandalism and doing fake boycotts, these things will not happen.

They want a reaction from the Muslim community and they succeed every single time.

I think non-Muslims also need leadership from Muslims in many ways, rampant Capitalism does require some checks. You know this already otherwise we could speak freely without censorship.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Majority of Muslims ignore events like these, however a few don't and do foolish things. This gives a field day to Islamophobes to vilify the entire community. A few of them in this thread.

 

[Itachi]

Have you not heard of India and the RSS in government? They are Hindus.

Many Muslims? Do you have a number since Muslims are nearly 2 billion?

How is India, hindu or RSS relevant in this thread?

 

[Varun]

I’m all for freedom of speech and expression but there are certain actions that are unacceptable and the Islamic power nations such as Turkey and Egypt really need to take serious action.

The US practically got away with sending air strike killing colonel Sulaimani. What’s stopping Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and any other powerful sovereign Muslim state sending a warning missile on non civilian targets in countries like Denmark and Sweden who are adamant on offending Muslims for the sake of it?

Turkey will be booted out of NATO if they tried such a stunt. Their military circles like the West more than anything to do with Islam.

Egypt is a borderline failed state and has fallen massively since the mid-20th century Nasser days, leave alone since their prosperous ancient civilizations.

Pakistan have a reputation of allowing the West to bomb Pakistan itself, so colour me skeptical if that snake Bajwa launches a random missile on a long haul flight to Stockholm of all places.

 

[pillionrider]

Why can't Islamic countries find a way to reciprocate in kind and end the matter there.

Maybe burning the Bible might not be appropriate considering there are figures in the Bible whom Muslims revere.

Even something like de-legalizing one Christian structure in Muslim countries, every time Qurans are burnt in a Christian country. Most people would take this, if it was the alternative to some nutjobs planning on killing random innocent people as retaliation.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Best response is to ignore the fool. By getting outraged, Muslims will fall straight into his trap. Don't let the man get his 15 seconds of fame.

 

[Gilly]

Why can't Islamic countries find a way to reciprocate in kind and end the matter there.

Maybe burning the Bible might not be appropriate considering there are figures in the Bible whom Muslims revere.

Even something like de-legalizing one Christian structure in Muslim countries, every time Qurans are burnt in a Christian country. Most people would take this, if it was the alternative to some nutjobs planning on killing random innocent people as retaliation.

So you want to punish christians in islamic countries for something a person in a christian country has done even though the person burning the koran may not even be a christian.

 

[Itachi]

Why can't Islamic countries find a way to reciprocate in kind and end the matter there.

Maybe burning the Bible might not be appropriate considering there are figures in the Bible whom Muslims revere.

Even something like de-legalizing one Christian structure in Muslim countries, every time Qurans are burnt in a Christian country. Most people would take this, if it was the alternative to some nutjobs planning on killing random innocent people as retaliation.

Atrocious idea and won't stop any killings at all. Rather it will ignite more even in places where there was peace.

 

[Major]

He will burn the book, we will create a ruskus and might aswell drive one of them under a car, he will than say look i told you these people are crazy.

Critics and haters will always exist no matter what. Every big personality has had critics, and our Prophet was one of the biggest personalities out there which means you will often find someone trying to discredit him, commit blasphemy against him or try to burn the words of God that were sent through him.

Accept it as normal and just ignore it.

Religion gets judged on the actions of the people. This is why the Prophet always preached through his actions as that is what attracted more people towards Islam. We give a negative reaction that would be held against us.

Instead Muslims should seek out ways to remove the barriers and invite them through different ways where on lookers could learn about Islam.

Such acts would have to be ignored. I used to watch south park until they committed blasphemy against Islam, thus decided from watching them every again. I did my boycott against them. I did not write a threatning letter or even told others what they did.
Eventually south park didnt get the attention they wanted, i think it was pbs that removed that episode....

 

[Champ_Pal]

Muslims in Sweden fell for the clown act. Large scale protests and brining of vehicles reported. Police used batons and tear gas to disperse the angry crowd.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan on Monday condemned a Swedish far-right group's desecration of the Holy Quran and offensive remarks passed by a Dutch politician, according to a statement issued from the Foreign Office (FO).

"Pakistan strongly condemns the recent abhorrent act of desecration of the Holy Quran during rallies in Sweden. Pakistan also strongly condemns the offensive remarks made by a Dutch politician, attacking Islam and the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.

"Pakistan’s concerns have been conveyed to the authorities in Sweden and the Netherlands. They have been urged to take cognisance of the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and the Muslims worldwide and take steps to prevent Islamophobic incidents," the FO statement said.

Swedish police said on Monday that several days of unrest, sparked by a far-right group's plans to desecrate the Quran, have injured several dozen people and called for more resources to deal with the violence. Protests turned violent in several cities since Thursday, leaving 26 police officers and 14 civilians injured, police said at a press conference on Monday.

Pakistan said such "provocative Islamophobic incidents" served no purpose other than hurting the sensitivities of the global Muslim community.

"Such actions are not covered under legitimate expressions of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, which carry responsibilities under international human rights law such as the obligation not to carry out hate speech and incite people to violence," the statement said.

It added that Muslims everywhere unequivocally condemned the practice of insulting Islam, Christianity and Judaism and stood against all acts of violence on the basis of religion or belief. "These principles must be equally respected and supported by all," the statement pointed out.

Pakistan said the international community needed to show a common resolve against xenophobia, intolerance and incitement to violence on the basis of religion or belief, and work together for promoting inter-faith harmony and peaceful co-existence.

"We call on the international community to demonstrate solidarity and commitment to the ideals of building peaceful and harmonious societies for the betterment of humanity," the FO urged.

Swedish unrest
The unrest in Sweden was sparked by the leader of an anti-immigration and anti-Islam group, Rasmus Paludan, who is aiming to drum up support ahead of the September elections.

Paludan — who intends to stand in the September poll but does not yet have the necessary signatures to secure his candidacy — has gone on a declared “tour” of Sweden, visiting cities and towns with large Muslim populations with the intent of desecrating copies of the Holy Quran as Muslims mark the holy month of Ramazan.

Clashes with police have erupted during protests against the group since Thursday evening, starting in the cities Linkoping and Norrkoping.

They spread to the city of Malmo, where a school was set alight during the second night of unrest on Saturday-Sunday.

“Criminals have profited from the situation to show violence toward society, without any link to the demonstrations,” national police chief Anders Thornberg said at a press conference on Monday.

“There are too few of us. We have grown, but we have not grown at the same pace as the problems at the heart of society,” he said, asking for more resources for the police.

As protesters burned cars and lobbed rocks at the police in Sunday clashes, officers responded, head of police special forces Jonas Hysing said.

“Some 200 participants were violent and the police had to respond with arms in legitimate self-defence,” he said.

Police had earlier said officers wounded three people after firing warning shots during Sunday's “riot”.

Eight people were arrested in the city of Norrkoping and 18 people were detained in the neighbouring city of Linkoping, because of the violence.

On Sunday, clashes erupted in both cities for the second time in four days.

In the wake of the string of violent incidents, Iraq's foreign ministry said on Sunday it had summoned the Swedish charge d'affaires in Baghdad.

It warned the affair could have “serious repercussions” on “relations between Sweden and Muslims in general, both Muslim and Arab countries and Muslim communities in Europe”.

Saudi Arabia's official news agency said the kingdom has “condemned the agitations of certain extremists in Sweden and their provocations against Muslims”.

Dawn

 

[GenericBrand]

Morons proved the Danish politician correct.

 

[daytrader]

Asking this in Pakistan’s political context, where is TLP? No protests from them this time.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Sad to see that many here are unable to condemn the heinous burning of a religious scripture.

The swedish government should act to stop far right goons from making these insane gestures.

 

[sweep_shot]

What do these people accomplish by burning Qurans? Do they think they can stop Islam/Muslims?

Burning paper is also bad for environment.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Sad to see that many here are unable to condemn the heinous burning of a religious scripture.

The swedish government should act to stop far right goons from making these insane gestures.

What they burned is only a piece of paper. You cannot destroy anything by burning a copy. Its a meaningless act in bad taste. Muslims in Sweden should have sent the offenders a Get Well Soon card. That would have made them look lot more mature.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

What they burned is only a piece of paper. You cannot destroy anything by burning a copy. Its a meaningless act in bad taste. Muslims in Sweden should have sent the offenders a Get Well Soon card. That would have made them look lot more mature.

It is a deeply troublesome and highly symbolic act.

If it was " only a bit of paper" they wouldn't have burnt it in such dramatic fashion would they.

 

[Sidilicious]

Sad to see that many here are unable to condemn the heinous burning of a religious scripture.

The swedish government should act to stop far right goons from making these insane gestures.

There will always be idiots in every community. Swedish government cannot and should not start curbing their speech and freedom laws because some idiots took advantage of it. Curbing freedom and speech laws will have greater consequences.

The onus here is on the Muslims of Sweden to ignore these idiots. Surely, one should realise that you can’t stop someone else doing some stupid action like burning a book. One can only control their own actions. So the best course of action is to ignore them completely. There would be no burning of book if I the future the perpetrators know that burning a book will not get any reaction.

 

[Varun]

From Wiki (Islam in Sweden page):

Muslims in Sweden most often originate from Iraq, Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, the Iraqis being by far the largest group in 2015.[35] Most Iranians and Iraqis fled as refugees to Sweden during the Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988.

I recommend Pakistanis focus on the countries in question here and distance themselves accordingly. They have nothing to do with this because they are so few in number in the country in question (Sweden).

 

[DeadlyVenom]

There will always be idiots in every community. Swedish government cannot and should not start curbing their speech and freedom laws because some idiots took advantage of it. Curbing freedom and speech laws will have greater consequences.

The onus here is on the Muslims of Sweden to ignore these idiots. Surely, one should realise that you can’t stop someone else doing some stupid action like burning a book. One can only control their own actions. So the best course of action is to ignore them completely. There would be no burning of book if I the future the perpetrators know that burning a book will not get any reaction.

Laws are made to curb the actions of extremists and provide a safe society.

This very childish " ignore and they go away" approach is what mothers tell their children in nursery school. in the real world vile and demented extremists will find additional ways to provoke. It is better that they are rooted out quickly rather than telling the victims to close their eyes and accept extreme provocation.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

From Wiki (Islam in Sweden page):



I recommend Pakistanis focus on the countries in question here and distance themselves accordingly. They have nothing to do with this because they are so few in number in the country in question (Sweden).

What is your recommendation to Indian posters?

 

[Varun]

Laws are made to curb the actions of extremists and provide a safe society.

This very childish " ignore and they go away" approach is what mothers tell their children in nursery school. in the real world vile and demented extremists will find additional ways to provoke. It is better that they are rooted out quickly rather than telling the victims to close their eyes and accept extreme provocation.

Both should happen.

1. The long arm of the law by the government.

2. The 'ignore' instead of 'getting provoked' by the Muslim citizens.

The latter is the course of action suggested to you.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Both should happen.

1. The long arm of the law by the government.

2. The 'ignore' instead of 'getting provoked' by the Muslim citizens.

The latter is the course of action suggested to you.

Only one is appropriate. The action in 2 is like asking the women who are raped to wear more appropriate clothes, or a person who was assaulted to learn self defence for next time.

 

[Varun]

Only one is appropriate. The action in 2 is like asking the women who are raped to wear more appropriate clothes, or a person who was assaulted to learn self defence for next time.

Okay - what do you propose to do if provoked? Raising your voice at the government to take action? That is acceptable. Spreading awareness on social media? Fine. Some left field thing where you act kind to the perpetrators to give yourself a PR victory? Even better.

Anything else?

 

[JaDed]

Say what you want about America but for more than 300 million population the extremist right wing nut cases are way less compared to these small European countries.

An act just to provoke, people shouldn’t had given in.

 

[Birdman]

I don't know much about the laws on Freedom of expression or freedom of speech in Sweden. But if this act is permissible by law them Govt has no business stopping it. Sweds are not responsible for the feelings of Muslims half way across the world. If Muslims in Sweden is hurt by this they can express their displeasure in a lawful manner.

 

[oatmeal]

There is only one legal way to stop these kind of demonstration - the China approach. China often wields its economic muscle to curb discussion of topics it doesn't like - even in countries where freedom of expression is guaranteed under law.

The oil producing gulf countries could threaten to stop selling oil. Though most of these countries have freedom of expression, they also have laws to prosecute attempts to disturb law and order which can be used.

But rioting and violence by individuals is totally counterproductive. The Swedish government would just crackdown on rioters to restore order.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">People of Pakistan and Muslims around the world are deeply hurt by the recent incidents of Islamophobia in Sweden & the Netherlands. The international community must condemn these incidents & take steps to check such abhorrent behaviour. We must stand united against Islamophobia.</p>— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) <a href="https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1516330959024570371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Jadz]

Far-right extremists - and their Muslim extremist counterparts - are sometimes Intel assets, sent into communities in order to stoke tensions, spread fear and instil hatred. It is essentially about divide and rule, as well as about creating diversions from State policies which may be detrimental to society but beneficial to ruling classes.

Note how the rhetoric surrounding Ukraine refugees and immigrants is markedly different from other refugees and immigrants. This is because there is an agenda at play and not because the West adores Ukrainians - recall how Eastern Europeans were vilified, targeted and attacked pre/during Brexit, many left Britain because of the manner in which they were blamed for the economic woes of working class Brits.

Qur'an burning is actually nothing new, the enemies of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) - the powerful Quraysh clan - would have given their eye/teeth to get hold of a copy to publicly burn it. They did, however, try their utmost to assassinate the Prophet, starved Muslims through barbaric sieges and killed as many as they could get their hands on.

The task of Muslims is follow the guidance that flows from the Qur'an, not riot every time they are provoked by the ignorant. It is sufficient for official protests by leaders of Muslim communities to be lodged with appropriate authorities, and that is it. If Muslims responded with intellectual maturity instead of with wild emotionalism Qur'an-burning and other such provocations would cease.

We should bear in mind that even though many far-right 'activists' claim they want to retain the 'Christian heritage' of their countries, they do not actually practice Christianity but simply use it as a weapon with which to bash Muslims. Muslims must exercise restraint and control - if they really trust and believe in Allah SwT. After all, it is His Book and He best knows how to guard it - which He promised He would in the Qur'an itself!

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Okay - what do you propose to do if provoked? Raising your voice at the government to take action? That is acceptable. Spreading awareness on social media? Fine. Some left field thing where you act kind to the perpetrators to give yourself a PR victory? Even better.

Anything else?

There is no need for me to make proposals to you. You have already appointed yourself the arbitrar of what is acceptable, and which nationalities are allowed to comment on the issue.

 

[RexRex]

There is no need for me to make proposals to you. You have already appointed yourself the arbitrar of what is acceptable, and which nationalities are allowed to comment on the issue.

You said this should be nipped in the bud instead of just asking muslims to ignore it. What are the new laws that should be enacted to counter this?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

You said this should be nipped in the bud instead of just asking muslims to ignore it. What are the new laws that should be enacted to counter this?

Hate speech/inciting racial or religious laws that most countries have.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Hate speech/inciting racial or religious laws that most countries have.

Burning religious scriptures is not same as inciting violence to kill someone. Unless someone openly encourages mobs to attack a person or group of people based on their race or religion, it should not be considered as hate speech.

Nobody can stop people from doing random acts of desecration of religious books or idols. The best is to show love towards such people and be the better human.

 

[RexRex]

Hate speech/inciting racial or religious laws that most countries have.

As far as I know, there is no law in Europe against burning a bible or any other holy book. Why do you want special privileges/law just for your religion ? It suggests a strange level of entitlement that other communities don't have.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

What's happening isn't right but Pakistan needs to stop acting as the thekedaar of Islam.

This incident isnt even happening in Pakistan. It's beyond cringe to watch their leaders try to fight a non existent issue.

If anything, they give a ton of ammunition to the right wing nut jobs.

The more you say we must fight against Islamaphobia...the more it will be prevalent.

Focus on your economy and let the world go to hell.

With time and enough progress, you will see the world defending you.

 

[Itachi]

What's happening isn't right but Pakistan needs to stop acting as the thekedaar of Islam.

This incident isnt even happening in Pakistan. It's beyond cringe to watch their leaders try to fight a non existent issue.

If anything, they give a ton of ammunition to the right wing nut jobs.

The more you say we must fight against Islamaphobia...the more it will be prevalent.

Focus on your economy and let the world go to hell.

With time and enough progress, you will see the world defending you.

Pakistan requires to voice on these matters because this is what drives the people away from real matters in terms of focus. As long as people are entangled with religion, no one cares about inflation, abuses. It's us vs them.

IK has used this in his propaganda very well and others have learnt it by watching him. It serves them well.

 

[Varun]

There is no need for me to make proposals to you. You have already appointed yourself the arbitrar of what is acceptable, and which nationalities are allowed to comment on the issue.

My only point was Pakistanis should increasingly start viewing stuff like this from a nationalistic instead of a religious lens. It will help them immensely since they won't be bracketed with the next rowdy guy from Iraq or Kosovo who decides to cause a controversy in the next European country.

 

[CricketCartoons]

There is no need for me to make proposals to you. You have already appointed yourself the arbitrar of what is acceptable, and which nationalities are allowed to comment on the issue.

DV, surprised that after years of interacting with us Indians, you have not understood their value system. Indians tolerate abuses on mothers and sisters as a rite of passage for forming friendship, and you have not earned a friendship if you haven't allowed the other person to use choicest vile abuses for the females in your family. These Indians see abuses as endearment, and blush when their friends use colorful words for females members of their family. When Kohli uses expletives, it is not because he had a bad upbringing, it is because it is the culture and tradition. Indians have made pusillanimity their virtue, self respect their shame and brown nosing their duty.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

My only point was Pakistanis should increasingly start viewing stuff like this from a nationalistic instead of a religious lens. It will help them immensely since they won't be bracketed with the next rowdy guy from Iraq or Kosovo who decides to cause a controversy in the next European country.

Pakistan is Islamic country and nation formed on the basis of religion.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

My only point was Pakistanis should increasingly start viewing stuff like this from a nationalistic instead of a religious lens. It will help them immensely since they won't be bracketed with the next rowdy guy from Iraq or Kosovo who decides to cause a controversy in the next European country.

Who cares?

It is an issue that affects a beloved holy scripture to Pakistanis and they are free to comment no matter the imaginary brackets.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

DV, surprised that after years of interacting with us Indians, you have not understood their value system. Indians tolerate abuses on mothers and sisters as a rite of passage for forming friendship, and you have not earned a friendship if you haven't allowed the other person to use choicest vile abuses for the females in your family. These Indians see abuses as endearment, and blush when their friends use colorful words for females members of their family. When Kohli uses expletives, it is not because he had a bad upbringing, it is because it is the culture and tradition. Indians have made pusillanimity their virtue, self respect their shame and brown nosing their duty.

Thank you for the summary into the Indian psyche. It was something that I had noted but couldn't quite put my finger on.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

As far as I know, there is no law in Europe against burning a bible or any other holy book. Why do you want special privileges/law just for your religion ? It suggests a strange level of entitlement that other communities don't have.

The other religions are free to ask for it. I'm not stopping them.

 

[KingKhanWC]

As far as I know, there is no law in Europe against burning a bible or any other holy book. Why do you want special privileges/law just for your religion ? It suggests a strange level of entitlement that other communities don't have.

A bit of basic research would have helped you to know more.

In the UK(which is part of Europe) burning Quran would be considered unlawful under the Racial and Religious Hatred act 2006.

Some have been jailed for this in the UK.

On a side note, its interesting to see Indian posters run with the freedom of speech of aspect while in their land you cant eat a beef burger in much places. Let alone if anyone was to burn the Hindu holy texts, they would be lynched.

 

[daytrader]

As the debate rages about freedom of expression, soundings from Stockholm suggest many feel the limit has been reached​

Standing in the sunshine with friends in a park overlooked by Stockholm mosque, Sofia said she was becoming tired of the debates around freedom of expression that followed Qur’an burnings in the Swedish capital.

The 36-year-old, who works in adult education, said she felt as if her religion was often cast as the problem, rather than the people behind the burnings.


“We are born and raised here over several generations, but they [the government] don’t talk about Muslims as if we are part of Sweden,” she said. “We contribute. We are lawyers, doctors, journalists, healthcare, normal people who are part of Sweden.”

In the latest of a string of protests in Sweden and Denmark in which copies of the Qur’an have been burned or otherwise damaged, two men set fire to the Qur’an outside the Swedish parliament on Monday. The burnings have prompted a domestic debate about the limits of Sweden’s exceptionally liberal freedom of expression laws and intensified a diplomatic row between Sweden and Muslim countries around the world.

“It’s called a ‘Qur’an crisis’,” Sofia said. “It’s not a Qur’an crisis, this is a … racism crisis.”

The two women standing either side of her voiced their agreement.

“They turn it on us as if it’s a crisis that Muslims have, but we haven’t gone and burnt somebody’s book,” Sofia added.

Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem, the two Iraqi men responsible for Monday’s burning, also burned a Qur’an outside Stockholm mosque on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in June.

On Tuesday, Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish prime minister, accused outsiders of exploiting the country’s freedom of expression laws to spread hate and of “dragging Sweden into international conflicts”. He also blamed disinformation for the outrage around the burnings.

Kristersson ruled out reducing Sweden’s legal protections for freedom of expression – which are among the strongest globally – but said his government would consider changes that would allow police to stop Qur’an burnings if they posed a threat to national security.

‘It’s a racism crisis’: call for action on Qur’an burnings in Sweden

As the debate rages about freedom of expression, soundings from Stockholm suggest many feel the limit has been reached

www.theguardian.com

 

[MenInG]

Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said that Pakistan would never tolerate the desecration of holy Quran incidents,

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Sweden’s government is considering changing the Public Order Act to make it possible for police to deny permission for acts such as burning the Holy Quran but only if they threaten national security, it said on Friday.

Sweden raised its terrorist alert to the second highest level on Thursday, saying it had thwarted attacks after burnings of the Holy Quran and other acts against Islam’s holiest text outraged Muslims.

Insults towards public figures or against religions are protected by Sweden’s far-reaching freedom of speech laws and the government rules out changing them.

However, Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer said on Friday he would appoint a commission to look into giving police wider powers to deny acts such as Holy Quran burnings.

“Of course, general international dissatisfaction or vague threat should not be enough it must be about serious and qualified threats,” Strommer told a news conference.

He added it could give police the power to select a different location for a protest or to dissolve it.

 

[MenInG]

Swedish police detained a woman who sprayed an anti-Islam activist with a fire extinguisher as he staged a Quran-burning protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm.

Video of the scene showed the woman rushing up to Salwan Momika and spraying white powder towards him before she was intercepted by plainclothes police officers who led her away. Momika, who appeared stunned but unhurt on Friday, then resumed his demonstration, which had been authorised by police.

Al Jazeera

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Europe has been increasingly becoming Islamophobic in last decade or so.

 

[daytrader]

Swedish police open arson case after mosque fire
Swedish police said Tuesday they were investigating whether a fire that reduced a mosque to rubble the previous day in central Sweden was arson.

“The investigation into the fire is continuing. Police will question witnesses and verify whether there were security cameras in the area,” the police said in a statement on their website.

The fire broke out on Monday around noon in Eskilstuna, a town of 108,000 people 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Stockholm, causing no injuries, a police spokesman told AFP.

There are no suspects and no arrests have been made.


“The mosque is almost completely destroyed, nothing can be saved,” mosque spokesman Anas Deneche told AFP.

Deneche said the mosque had been the target of several acts of violence in the past year and his family had been threatened.

“But it’s still too early to draw any conclusions (about the cause of the fire), we’ll have to wait for the police to do their work,” he said.

Police said they were investigating several leads but provided no other details.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 Muslims live in Eskilstuna.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/09/26/Swedish-police-open-arson-case-after-mosque-fire

 

[daytrader]

In a first, Sweden convicts man over sacrilegious act

STOCKHOLM: A Swedish court on Thursday convicted a man of inciting ethnic hatred with a sacrilegious act he committed in 2020, the first time the country’s courts have tried someone for desecrating the Holy Quran.

The conviction comes after a wave of desecrations earlier this year that stoked international outrage and made Sweden a “prioritised target”, prompting the country’s intelligence agency to heighten its terror alert level.

The Swedish government condemned the acts, but repeatedly upheld the country’s extensive freedom of expression laws.

The Linkoping district court in central Sweden found the 27-year-old man guilty of “agitation against an ethnic group”, saying his action had “targeted Muslims and not Islam as a religion”, and “can hardly be said to have encouraged an objective and responsible debate”.

In September 2020, the man had recorded a video clip outside the Linkoping cathedral showing the holy scripture and bacon being burned on a barbecue, with a pejorative remark about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) written on a sign under the barbecue. The man published the video on social media platforms Twitter, now known as X, and YouTube.

The song “Remove Kebab” was used in the video, a song popular among far-right groups and which calls for the religious cleansing of Muslims.

The court said “the music is strongly associated with the attack in Christchurch”, New Zealand, in 2019 in which an Australian white supremacist killed 51 people at two mosques.

The man had denied any wrongdoing, arguing that his action was a criticism of Islam as a religion. But the court rejected that argument.

“The court finds that the chosen music to a film with such content cannot be interpreted any other way than as a threat against Muslims with an allusion to their faith,” the court wrote in a statement.

“The film’s content and the form of its publication are such that it is clear that the defendant’s primary purpose could not have been other than to express threats and contempt,” it said.

In a first, Sweden convicts man over sacrilegious act

Linkoping district court finds 27-year-old man guilty of “agitation against an ethnic group” for desecrating Holy Quran.

www.dawn.com