ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has lodged a protest with Norway over desecration ofthe Holy Quran in the Nor¬wegian city of Kristiansand.
Norwegian Ambassador Kjell-Gunnar Eriksen was summoned to the ForeignOffice and conveyed “deep concern of the government and people of Pakistan”over the incident.
Pakistan urged the ambassador to bring those involved in desecration of theHoly Quran incident to justice and to prevent the recurrence of any suchincident in the future.
Lars Thorsen, a leader of an anti-Islam group, set fire to a copy of theQuran the other day, while another leader of the far-right group Arne Tumyrdesecrated two other copies of the holy book by throwing them into a trashbin during a demonstration organised by their organisation.
Muslims across the world have been praising the Muslim man – now beingcalled the ‘Defender of Quran’ – who attacked Lars Thorsen, the leader ofthe ‘Stop Islamisation of Norway (SIAN)’, for burning a copy of the HolyQuran during an anti-Islam rally in Norway. The incident happened in thecity of Kristiansand despite apparent warnings from local police officialswhen the anti-Islam group said it planned to do so.
Ambassador Eriksen, meanwhile, tweeted that Norwegian government“disapproves” the act of the Quran burning in the right-wing demonstration.He said that the police stopped the demonstration “for security reasons”.
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He insisted that in Norway “everyone has the right to free speech and topractice their religion without being harassed”.
Pakistan told Ambassador Eriksen that such actions hurt the sentiments of1.3 billion Muslims around the world, including those in Pakistan.Furthermore, such actions could not be justified in the name of freedom ofexpression, Foreign Office said.
Pakistan’s ambassador in Oslo Zaheer Parvez Khan has been directed to lodgePakistan’s protest with the Norwegian foreign ministry.
