Ulema Council wants Pakistan to cut off diplomatic ties with Sweden

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) on Friday demanded the incumbent government should cut off all diplomatic relations with Sweden following desecration of Holy Quran, ARY News reported.

Addressing a ceremony, PUC chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi demanded the government to cut off all diplomatic relations with Sweden immediately, saying that the Swedish government had itself allowed the desecration of the Holy Quran.

The Ulema Council chairman also demanded the government to expel Swedish ambassador from Pakistan, announcing that the council has summoned all religious scholars in this regard on July 26.

He pointed out that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should also cut relations with Sweden, castigating the Swedish government to “give such permission”.

Earlier in the day, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman demanded Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif to recall Pakistan ambassador to Sweden ‘in protest’ against the desecration of Holy Quran.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) president made this demand during a telephonic conversation with PM Shehbaz Sharif.

Earlier, a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee desecrated the Holy Quran in Sweden’s capital Stockholm last week, resulting in strong condemnation from several states, including Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq and Iran.

In the latest such incident on July 20, the refugee, Salwan Momika, stepped on the Holy Quran but did not burn it, triggering renewed condemnations and calls for protest across the Muslim world.

Following the desecration, Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador in protest at a planned desecration of Holy Quran in Stockholm that had prompted hundreds of protesters to storm and set alight the Swedish embassy.

An Iraqi government statement added that Baghdad was also recalling its charge d’affaires in Sweden, and Iraq’s state news agency reported that Iraq had suspended the working permit of Sweden’s Ericsson on Iraqi soil.