Holy Quran desecration: OIC convenes ‘urgent moot’ on July 31

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) announced holding an extraordinary virtual session for the Council of Foreign Ministers of Member States (CFM) on July 31 (Monday) to discuss the repeated incidents of desecration and burning of copies of the Holy Quran in Sweden and Denmark.

“This session has been convened at the request of Saudi Arabia, the Chair of the 14th Islamic Summit, and the Republic of Iraq,” the top Muslim bloc said in a statement.

This urgent meeting of ministers has been called in response to the final statement issued by the OIC Executive Committee after an extraordinary meeting held at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah on July 2, this year, it added.

The statement addressed the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran in Sweden and called for high-level emergency meetings as needed.

“The meeting is being held considering the OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha’s consultations with the member states regarding the implementation of the final statement issued by the Executive Committee,” read the OIC statement.

Further measures are also being considered in response to the repeated provocative actions that represent deliberate religious hatred and intolerance, it added.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia summoned a Danish diplomat to protest the desecration of the holy book by an extreme-right group in Copenhagen, state media reported early Friday.

During the meeting on Thursday with the Danish charge d’affaires, Saudi foreign ministry officials delivered a protest note urging an end to “these disgraceful acts, which violate all religious teachings (and) international laws and norms” and can “fuel hatred between religions”, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The far-right group Danske Patrioter on Monday posted a video in which a man is seen desecrating and burning what appeared to be a copy of the Holy Quran.

It was just the latest such incident to stir anger in the Muslim world.

Saudi Arabia has also denounced protests by a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee who last month burned pages of the holy book outside Stockholm’s main mosque.

In a separate protest last week, the refugee, Salwan Momika, desecrated the Holy Quran, prompting Riyadh to hand a protest note to the Swedish charge d’affaires.

A day earlier, Pakistan also strongly condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran and dishonouring of the Pakistani flag in front of the Embassy of Pakistan in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“A strong protest has been lodged with the Government of Denmark. We expect the Danish authorities to take all measures necessary to stop such acts of hatred and incitement,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday.

The intent of such evil acts is to insult two billion Muslims around the world and create friction amongst communities, cultures, and countries, the statement added.

The FO said Pakistan, for its part, will continue to raise the question of Islamophobia at the international level.