Pakistan calls for worldwide stance against religious hatred, Islamophobia

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan on Tuesday urged the world to stand united against a rising tide of Islamophobia and religious hatred, including incidents like the burning of Islam’s holy book, the Quran, in Sweden.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari virtually addressed the urgent debate held by the Human Rights Council on acts of religious hatred, where he called on the global community to “stand united against hatred, discrimination, intolerance, and promote mutual respect, understanding, and tolerance,” state-run Pakistan Television reported.

Islamabad’s top diplomat said that the deliberate desecration of the Quran has continued under the “government sanction and with the sense of impunity,” an apparent reference to the Swedish government that allowed the burning of a copy of the Quran earlier this month.

“We must see this incitement to hatred, discrimination, and attempts to provoke violence. We must join hands in condemning it; we must isolate those who stroke hatred,” Zardari added.

“Holy Quran is a spiritual anchor for 2 billion Muslims. It is important to understand the deep hurt that the public and premeditated act of Quran’s desecration causes to Muslims,” he said.

Dubbing the Sweden incident as an attack on the Muslim faith, Zardari said that hate and free speech must be segregated as free speech is “indispensable, but hate speech was indefensible.”

He added that Muslim countries do not allow the desecration of the holy text of other religions, and such an act is unthinkable to any Muslim.

“It is forbidden by faith, by culture, and by law,” he said.