Qur\u2019an burning in Stockholm
\n DHAKA
\nBangladesh summoned the charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires of the Swedish Embassy in Dhaka on Sunday to protest against the burning of a copy of the Qur\u2019an in Stockholm amid widespread international condemnation over the incident.
\nThe burning of the Qur\u2019an outside a mosque in Sweden during Eid Al-Adha sparked outrage in many Muslim countries and condemnations of the Swedish authorities.
\nAs acts and statements of protest swept the Muslim world, Bangladesh on Sunday became the first country in Asia to summon the Swedish envoy to protest the \u201cdespicable act.\u201d
\nIn a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged an end to \u201cunwarranted provocations for the sake of harmony and peaceful coexistence.\u201d
\nThe ministry said: \u201cBangladesh expresses grave concern over such (a) heinous act of insulting the sacred values and religious symbols of \u2026 Muslims in the name of \u2018freedom of expression.\u2019\u201d
\nAs Muslims celebrated Eid Al-Adha, one of the most important holidays in the Islamic calendar, a man identified as a refugee from Iraq tore up pages of the Qur\u2019an on Wednesday and set it on fire in front of Stockholm\u2019s largest mosque.
\nThe recent incident in Stockholm and Dhaka\u2019s subsequent summon of the Swedish envoy is unlikely to impact bilateral relations, experts said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a religious issue that touches all the Muslims of the country. Any sort of disrespect to the holy Qur\u2019an creates emotional sentiment among Muslims around the world. It\u2019s a very emotional and sensitive issue for us,\u201d Humayun Kabir, Bangladesh\u2019s former ambassador to the US, told Arab News. \u201cI think summoning the charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires was a good approach \u2026 I don\u2019t think this summon issue will impact much on the bilateral relations between the two countries since they (Sweden) also understand it\u2019s an emotional issue for us.\u201d
\nFor Bangladesh, development cooperation has been a \u201ccornerstone\u201d of its relations with Sweden, while the European country has said the South Asian nation is an \u201cimportant and growing Swedish trade partner,\u201d with steady growth in the sector.
\nBangladesh is one of the largest Muslim-majority countries in the world, with over 150 million people professing Islam, making up over 91 percent of its total population.
\nTouhid Hossain, former foreign secretary at the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted how Bangladesh is not alone in protesting the Qur\u2019an burning in Sweden. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not alone. Many Muslim countries expressed reactions to this issue. Not all Muslim countries but many,\u201d Hossain told Arab News. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe government should work in line with the sentiment of its people. Maybe people don\u2019t come out onto the streets in protest, but everyone is unhappy. There is no doubt about it. So, the government took this initiative as a part of its responsibility,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no logic to justify this sort of incident by saying \u2018freedom of expression.\u2019 It\u2019s a hate crime. Hate can\u2019t be a freedom of expression.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Qur\u2019an burning in Stockholm DHAKA Bangladesh summoned the charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires of the Swedish Embassy in Dhaka on Sunday to protest against the burning of a copy of the Qur\u2019an in Stockholm amid widespread international condemnation over the incident. The burning of the Qur\u2019an outside a mosque in Sweden during Eid Al-Adha sparked outrage in many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-340887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n