By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI – The severe condemnation and an intense outrage in the Muslim world over a recent incident of public burning of the Holy Quran outside a mosque in Sweden has forced the Scandinavian country to review its law on freedom of speech and expression and examine the scope for making the desecration of religious scriptures illegal. The incident has dented Sweden’s image around the world.
An Iraq-born Christian immigrant residing in Sweden, who was identified as Salwan Momika, 37, had burnt the pages of the Holy Quran outside Swedish capital Stockholm’s main mosque on Eid-ul-Azha. Sweden has extensive freedom of speech and expression laws, because of which even the courts often overturned the police’s rejection of applications for holding anti-Muslim protests and Holy Quran burnings.
Salwan Momika had previously served in a Christian unit of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces. The Popular Mobilisation Forces consist predominantly of Shiite militias which were integrated into Iraq’s Armed Forces in 2016.
The outrageous act drew immediate condemnation from the Muslim world as well as the head of the Catholic Christian community in Vatican City, Pope Francis. The Muslim leaders in Sweden also deplored the incident. The Swedish Embassy in Baghdad was briefly stormed by angry protesters. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the act and criticised Swedish authorities for allowing it. Iran held back on sending a new Ambassador to Stockholm and Muslims in Pakistan took out massive rallies to observe the ‘Youm-e-Taqaddus-e-Quran’ (Quran Sanctity Day) on Friday. The United Nations is also expected to meet shortly in a special session to discuss the incident.
The U.N. Human Rights Council said it would hold the session on July 11 to address the “alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred as manifested by recurrent desecration of the Holy Quran in some European and other countries”. Besides, the countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco have summoned Swedish Ambassadors in protest.
The liberal observers in Sweden have affirmed that such acts should be regarded as hate speech, which is outlawed in the country when it targets ethnicity or race. But several political observers believe that Sweden should resist pressure to re-introduce blasphemy laws which were abandoned several decades ago. However, the Swedish government is on the back foot after a strong reaction by the Muslim countries.
As Salwan Momika hails from Iraq, the Iraq government has appealed to the Swedish authorities to extradite him and the Prosecutor General’s office has issued an arrest warrant against him to the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol). The Supreme Judicial Council has urged Interpol to inform Baghdad immediately when Salwan Momika is apprehended.
The biggest challenge faced by Sweden following the incident is on the front of its attempts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Turkey, an important member of NATO, has blocked Sweden’s bid to join the organisation, saying it will not endorse Sweden’s application until the Holy Quran burnings are halted. It is necessary for a county willing to join the NATO to obtain the approval of all of its current members.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Sweden over the incident, while citing its anti-Islamic record in the past, and said: “We will teach the arrogant Western people that it is not freedom of expression to insult the sacred values of Muslims.” The Turkish people, who elected Erdogan in the general elections recently for the third consecutive term, are also outraged at the incident of Islam’s holiest book being set on fire when the annual Haj pilgrimage to Makkah was drawing to a close.
While trying to prevent the situation from going out of hand, the Swedish government issued a statement saying it strongly rejects the Islamophobic act committed by individuals in Sweden and affirmed that it “in no way reflects the opinions of the Swedish government.” A matter of concern for Sweden is that the situation is starting to resemble the 2006 incidents in Denmark following the publication of newspaper caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. The Danish Consulates and Embassies were burned and the cartoonists faced death threats at that time.
Sweden has evidently been caught in a difficult situation, as it needs to balance its commitment to free speech and its respect for religious minorities. Besides, the incident has complicated Sweden’s desire to join NATO. Sweden’s Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer has now revealed that the government is examining the possibility of making the desecration of the Holy Quran or other religious scriptures illegal in the light of the Stockholm incident on Eid-ul-Azha.
The authorities who gave permission for Salwan Momika’s protest have launched a probe saying that they are investigating whether his act was just a stunt or was a potential act of agitation against an ethnic group. Strommer regretted that the incident had made Sweden a target for violence. “We can see that the burning of the Quran last week has generated threats to our internal security,” Strommer said, adding that Sweden would analyse the legal situation in the light of the current events.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted in Sweden has revealed that the majority of the people in the country support a ban on the public burning of religious texts, such as the Holy Quran or the Bible. The survey was conducted on behalf of Swedish national television broadcaster SVT, marking a significant shift in the Scandinavian nation. About 53% of those questioned said that burning holy scriptures of any religion in public should be prohibited, while 34% answered that it should be allowed, and 13% were undecided. This marks an 11% increase in those looking to forbid such acts, from February when the same question was asked in another survey.
