OIC’s emergency meeting on Sweden Quran burning issue

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JEDDAH

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the largest organization of Islamic countries, called an emergency meeting regarding this, in which action has been taken at the global level to combat Islamophobia and avoid the alleged insult of the Quran. The issue of burning the holy book of Islam, the Quran, outside a mosque in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is gaining momentum.

OIC, an organization of 57 Islamic countries, called an emergency meeting at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the incident of the burning of the Quran in Sweden. The incident took place on the occasion of Bakrid, due to which Islamic countries are even more angry.

All Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait have strongly condemned this incident. In protest, Morocco has recalled its ambassador from Sweden for an indefinite period.

The OIC stated after the emergency meeting which said, “OIC has asked its member states to come together to stop those countries which are burning the Quran, the holy book of Islam.”

In the statement, OIC Secretary-General Hissen Brahim Taha was quoted as saying that ‘insulting the Quran is not just an incident of ordinary Islamophobia.

He said, ‘We appeal to countries around the world to follow international law which completely prohibits the promotion of religious hatred.’

Taha strongly condemned the hateful act of Salwan Momika, the person who burnt the Quran in the emergency meeting. Demonstrations have taken place outside the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, in protest against the burning of the Quran. Iraq, Kuwait, UAE and Morocco have called Sweden’s ambassadors and expressed their opposition to them.

Iran will not send its ambassador to Sweden

In protest against the incident, Iran has refused to send its new ambassador to Sweden. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdullahian said on Twitter on Sunday that his country would not send its new ambassador to Sweden, Hojjatollah Faghani.

He said on Twitter, ‘The process of sending the ambassador has been stopped after the government of Sweden allowed the desecration of the Holy Quran.’

Quran-burner Salwan Momika was born in Iraq and five years ago he fled his country and came to Sweden. Now Iraq says that Momika still has Iraqi citizenship and should be handed over to Iraq. On Sunday itself, however, the Swedish government condemned the burning of the Quran outside the mosque.

The government said, ‘Protest by one person in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims.’ Responding to the OIC’s statement, Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, ‘We condemn these acts. Such acts do not match the views of the Swedish government in any way.

The Swedish police had earlier denied Momika permission to burn the Quran outside the mosque to avoid a serious reaction. Monika had applied for demonstrations to the police several times, which were rejected.

After this, Monika moved the court. The court had permitted Momika to protest citing freedom of expression. Later the police officials said that Momika had committed the crime very close to the mosque, so an investigation has been started against her for agitation against a religion.