Thousands Of Afghans Protesting Desecration Of Quran In Sweden, Netherlands - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2023) Thousands of Afghans took to the streets on Friday to protest the recent cases of Quran desecration in Sweden and the Netherlands and demand justice, Afghan media reported.

The protesters were chanting slogans directed against the two European countries and demanding punishment for those responsible for desecrating the holy book, the Ariana news broadcaster reported.

"The Holy Quran is the book of brotherhood. This book never insults the sacred things of others. We want that such offensive acts should be prevented in the future," a protester in Kabul told the media outlet.

Protesters in western Afghanistan were also chanting "death to Sweden and long live islam," Ariana News reported.

Earlier in the day, Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the far-right Danish political party Stram Kurs, who burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21, had burned another copy in Copenhagen near the Turkish embassy. Another desecration also took place near the Russian consulate in the Danish capital. The Russian diplomatic mission condemned the demonstration.

A similar protest was also held in the Netherlands on Monday where far-right Dutch politician and leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida Edwin Wagensveld tore out pages from a copy of the Muslim holy book and burned them in front of the parliamentary building in The Hague.