Malaysia strongly condemns politician's Quran burning act in Sweden - PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has condemned in the strongest terms the Islamophobic act of extremist Swedish-Danish far-right politician, Rasmus Paludan in burning a copy of the Quran, Islam's holy book, in Stockholm, Sweden.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia also urged the Swedish government to take urgent measures against the perpetrators of the vile act as well as ensuring drastic steps in the future to address the alarming rise of Islamophobia in the country.

"Such a blatant defilement of Islam's holy book by the Swedish politician and the inaction are tantamount to fomenting Islamophobia and constitutes a grave provocation to the sensitivities of not just Turkiye but more than two billion Muslims in the world.

"Malaysia denounces the repeated hate crimes targeting Muslims in the world as well as all forms of incitement to hatred and the fanning of racism in word or deed and views with grave concern the rising tide of hate speech on account of faith or ethnicity," he said in a statement today.

Anwar stressed Malaysia reiterates the paramount importance of upholding the principles of dialogue, engagement and mutual respect in the settlement of disputes.

He also called on the international community to reject race or religious baiting under the guise of freedom of expression and to remain united against all forms of incitement to hate and violence.

Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), was permitted to burn the Quran on Saturday outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, causing the Muslim world to erupt in anger due to the incident.

-- BERNAMA