Sweden was followed by the abhorrent burning of a copy of the holy Quran, the Muslim holy book, outside the Turkish embassy in Denmark and in front of a mosque in the capital, Copenhagen. This heinous crime was committed by Rasmus Paludan, the leader of hard-line political party Hard Line. This same person burned the Holy Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, the capital of Denmark on January 21.
We strongly condemn this unforgivable crime. Note that Rasmus Paludan is a joint citizen of Sweden and Denmark. He announced in April last year that he would go around and burn the Holy Quran during the holy month of Ramadan. His announcement caused riots across Sweden. Pursuant to that prior announcement, he burned the Holy Quran first in Sweden and later in Denmark. Notably, Rasmus Paludan chose the place in front of the Turkish Embassy as the place to burn the Holy Quran. This shows that he is dissatisfied with Turkey. It is known that Sweden and neighboring Finland want to join the NATO alliance. This requires the approval or support of all NATO members. Turkey, a member of NATO, has objections to them. Turkey has already indicated that it will not approve Sweden’s accession. Turkey also postponed indefinitely a meeting in Brussels, which was supposed to discuss the membership of Sweden and Finland. With Turkey blocking Denmark’s NATO membership, Rasmus Paludan could have taken any other program than burning the Holy Quran. Rather than that, he chose the Holy Quran, perhaps because it would anger and hurt Turkey the most. This also proves that the Holy Quran or Muslim hatred is embedded in the marrow of his bones.
There is no shortage of politicians in Europe like Rasmus Paludan, who are infected with Islamophobia or Muslim hatred. They see Islam as scary and its followers as a threat to their existence. Far right or extremist political parties, predominantly white supremacists, deeply sectarian and particularly anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim, are gaining ground in European countries. The expansion of this type of politics is being observed in other western countries including the United States. Various anti-Islamic or anti-Muslim crimes and persecution of Muslims have increased alarmingly in recent years in various European countries, including desecration of the Holy Quran, making the Prophet (PBUH) the subject of cartoons, and banning the hijab. White supremacy has been or is being fueled in the U.S. and Europe mainly for political reasons. This is done in view of the fear that political power will shift from their hands in the future as the number of whites gradually decreases.
When the establishment of white supremacy is important, it is natural that other races are neglected and oppressed. Racist attacks on them are inevitable. That is what is happening. Violence against black and mixed race people is on the rise. Their human rights are being violated in many ways in the U.S. and Europe. Muslims are the worst victims of racism, communalism and religious hatred and most of them are non-white.
The conflict between Christians and Muslims is old. Long Crusades have also taken place between them. Christendom does not look kindly on the Muslim world. The United States and its Western allies are responsible for the current situation in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya. These countries have been almost destroyed by imposing unjust wars. Britain and the United States established the Jewish state of Israel in opposition to Muslim countries in the Middle East. They are the ones who sustain Israel to seize the Muslim countries. White supremacism and Christian supremacism meet at a point. Muslims have been the main target of these two supremacy attacks.
The United States and its Western allies are on a global human rights crusade. Their human rights policies are practically designed for whites and Christians. Whites are endangered and displaced by the war in Ukraine. There is competition for their shelter and services. However, refugees from Syria-Libya and other countries were prevented from entering Europe. In many African countries, people are suffering from food shortages. There is no help for them. This is the nature of human rights concepts and policies of the United States and the Western world.
The holy book or books of any religion are considered sacred to people of other religions. Similarly, the founder of any religion is highly revered and respected by the people of other religions as well. People in Europe who burn the Holy Quran and insult the Holy Prophet (PBUH) will naturally have their human and mental well-being questioned. The spread of this disease will further threaten peace and stability in the world, which cannot be desired by the people of the world in general.
Every Muslim in the world has been emotionally traumatized and shocked by the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden and Denmark. At the same time, there has been resentment among them. Although there are mutual disputes and differences of opinion among the Muslims of the world, there is no dispute or difference of opinion regarding the Holy Quran and the Prophet (PBUH).
A few days ago, there was a wave of protests in the Muslim countries and towns of the world due to the insult of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in India. Similarly, the protest of burning the Holy Quran has come from different countries and towns of the world. This type and language of protest should be understood and taken into account by the respective countries, Europe and the United States.
More than a quarter of the world’s population is Muslim. They will never accept showing hatred and contempt towards their holy scriptures, their Prophet (PBUH). The wounds in their hearts will never heal. If such misdeeds and heinous incidents continue happening, one day the people concerned will have to pay for it. We hope that they will be alert and careful and move quickly away from the path of white supremacy. There is no alternative to establishing a peaceful, stable and humane world.
*The writer is a researcher and author.
February 2, 2023
The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of Aequitas Review.
