Malaysia firmly condemns The Hague’s defilement of the Holy Quran

The latest disgusting act of desecration of the Holy Quran by an anti-Islam extremist and far-right leader, Edwin Wagensveld, in The Hague, the Netherlands on Sunday has been strongly condemned by Malaysia.

In a statement released on Friday, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) expressed shock that such an islamophobic crime had been repeated in recent days despite widespread condemnation.

The statement added, “Such hatred and illegal acts committed against Islam must end right away.”

Malaysia reaffirmed that racism, discrimination, and any other type of disrespect for sacred texts are abhorrent and should be condemned, regardless of a person’s religion.

In order to establish peace and harmony in a diverse global community, Malaysia asked all parties involved to take the required actions to further foster discussion, understanding, and the spirit of peaceful coexistence among multi-religious groups and cultures.

The statement added, “We also call on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Human Rights Council (HRC), and the United Nations (UN) to promptly address this grave situation and develop cooperative solutions in promoting the complete respect and protection for religious scriptures globally.

In a social media video posted on Monday, Wagensveld was seen tearing pages out of a Quran in The Hague and setting them on fire.

Following a similar incident last Saturday in which Rasmus Paludan, an extremist Swedish-Danish politician, burned a copy of the Holy Quran close to the Turkish Embassy in Sweden’s capital Stockholm, igniting outrage in both Turkey and around the world, the leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida provoked this week.