The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said the recent Quran burnings are deliberately designed to provoke anger and create divisions within communities.
During a debate around the subject in the UN Human Rights Council, Turk highlighted how the recent burning events seemed to “have been manufactured to express contempt and inflame anger.”
“Speech and inflammatory acts against Muslims; Islamophobia; anti-Semitism; actions and speech targeting Christians or minority groups like Ahmadis, Baha’is or Yazidis— all represent an utter lack of respect,” the UN official added.
He suggested tackling hate speech through dialogue, education, raising awareness, and inter-faith engagement.
With the widespread growth of social media and increasing discord on various levels, Turk warned that hate speech is becoming more prevalent and poses a risk to individuals as well as to society as a whole.
On June 28, an unsettling scene unfolded outside Stockholm’s main mosque when a protester set fire to a Quran, sparking diplomatic outrage across the Muslim world.
Several countries have since called for discussions on “the alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred,” noting the repeated desecration of the holy book in Europe and elsewhere.
Backed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Pakistan hopes to see a resolution passed on the issue by Tuesday or potentially later this week.
Salwan Momika—a 37-year-old who fled Iraq for Sweden several years ago— ignited controversy by stomping on the Muslim holy book and setting several pages on fire in Stockholm.
The incident coincided with Muslims worldwide celebrating Eid al-Adha holiday and the annual hajj pilgrimage.
While the Swedish government denounced the Quran burning as “Islamophobic,” it also reaffirmed Sweden’s “constitutionally-protected right to freedom of assembly, expression, and demonstration.”
