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Pakistan on Friday observed ‘Yaum-e-Taqaddus-e-Quran’ as demonstrations are being held nationwide, with people from different walks of life participating in the protests to express their resentment over the desecration of the holy book.
Last week, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, stomped on the Muslim holy book and set several pages alight outside a Stockholm mosque.
His act came as Muslims across the globe began celebrating the Eid al-Adha holiday and as the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia was drawing to a close.
Earlier this week Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for countrywide protests against the burning, declaring Friday “a day to uphold the Koran’s sanctity”.
Several political parties used the occasion to trumpet their Islamic credentials ahead of an election that must be held later this year, including former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Swedish flags were burned at rallies across the country, including at Islamabad’s Sitara Market.
Others trampled on modified Swedish flags that read “#Boycott Sweden” and featured a crossed-out image of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Clerics and Imams in mosques across the country condemned the burning in their Friday sermons.
“The entire Islamic world should cut diplomatic ties with Sweden and put economic pressure on Sweden by boycotting its products,” Maulana Sheikh Tahir said in a sermon at a mosque in Islamabad.