Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari discussed with his Swedish colleague recent occurrences of sacrilege of the Holy Quran in Sweden and other Nordic countries.
Bilawal stated on Twitter that he discussed the subject with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom over the phone.
“He informed me that the Swedish government strongly condemns all Islamophobic acts in any form.” “I emphasised that such heinous acts should not be tolerated under the guise of free expression,” Bilawal tweeted.
When Foreign Minister Bilawal called his Danish counterpart earlier last week, he brought up the problem.
“I received a call from Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and raised our deep concern about recent incidents of desecration of the Holy Quran in Denmark and other European countries,” Billawal had also tweeted at the time.
“While acknowledging the Danish government’s outreach to the Muslim world and condemnation of these heinous acts, I emphasised the importance of putting an end to Islamophobic acts that harm the sentiments of Muslims worldwide.” “I also stressed the importance of promoting interfaith harmony and religious tolerance,” Bilawal told Foreign Minister Rasmussen.
Bilawal also attended the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’s 18th Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), where the topic of Quran burning was discussed.
The OIC expressed great worry at the meeting about an upsurge in Islamophobia following a spike in incidences of Holy Quran burning in Nordic countries.
