According to an official statement, the Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday condemned “in the strongest terms” the politician Rasmus Paludan’s sacrilege of the Holy Quran the day before.
Having strongly condemned recent such incidents in Sweden and the Netherlands, Pakistan today termed the abhorrent act done in Denmark “senseless and deeply offensive” while declaring Paludan an islamophobe.
According to the FO, the repeated despicable acts “leave little doubt in the minds of Muslims around the world that freedom of expression is being flagrantly misused to foment religious hatred and incitement to violence.”
The FO called on “national governments as well as the international community” to avoid the recent crimes, describing them as “racist and islamophobic.” The “international community cannot turn a blind eye to these hate mongers,” Pakistan said in reference to the “legal system behind which the islamophobes hide and preach hatred with impunity.”
The FO reiterated its position that “freedom of expression comes with responsibility” and stated that Pakistan’s concerns had been shared with the authorities. Pakistan urged the authorities to “take efforts to prevent such cruel and islamophobic activities,” urging them to “be aware of the sentiments of Muslims around the world.”
