Bangladesh condemns Quran desecration in The Hague

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh on Thursday strongly condemned another act of desecration of the Quran by a far-right activist in The Hague, Netherlands.

The latest instance of disrespect for the Quran, which Muslims regard as the last revelation from Allah, comes within a week in Europe as last Saturday, Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line), was granted permission by the Swedish government to burn a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

On Monday, a video surfaced on social media showing Edwin Wagensveld, a far-right Dutch politician and leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida, shredding pages from a copy of the Quran in The Hague.

In the video, the politician is seen burning torn-out pages of the book in a pan.

“Bangladesh expresses grave concern over such a heinous incident and rejects any act of insulting the sacred values and religious symbols of the Muslims – for that matter of all religions – all over the world under any circumstances,” said a Foreign Ministry statement.

“Bangladesh urges all concerned to put an end to such unwarranted provocations and Islamophobia for the sake of harmony and peaceful coexistence,” it added.

Earlier, condemnations from around the world began to pour in for the repeated attempt to burn a copy of the Quran.

Türkiye on Wednesday denounced the act, calling it "heinous attacks" on the Muslim holy book Quran, said the country’s National Security Council, which also described such activities as "manifestations of anti-Islamic racism."

Gulf states, South Asian countries, members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and others have all condemned the latest burning of a copy of the Quran in The Hague.