The Foreign Ministry of Oman expressed its condemnation on Saturday over an extremist’s act of burning a copy of the Holy Quran in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The ministry stated that such behavior promotes extremism, hatred, and insults religions and beliefs, and requires a firm stance from the international community to criminalize and punish the perpetrators.
The statement emphasized the Sultanate’s firm stance on promoting values of coexistence, peace, respect for religions, diversity of cultures, and rejection of violence and discrimination. The ministry stressed the importance of protecting the rights of all individuals and communities, regardless of their religious beliefs, in order to maintain stability and peace in society.
The Foreign Ministry of Oman argued that the latest incident which saw Holy Quran burning has once again drawn attention to the need for increased efforts to counter extremism and promote respect for all religions. They also stated that the international community must come together to address these issues and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Rasmus Paludan, an anti-Islam activist on Friday burned two copies of the Quran in a solitary protest in Denmark’s capital of Copenhagen. He burned one in front of a mosque and another in front of the Turkish embassy, and vowed to do so every Friday until Sweden is admitted into NATO.
Paludan, a far-right activist who holds both Danish and Swedish citizenship, also staged a Quran-burning protest in Sweden on January 21. On Friday, protests were held in several predominantly Muslim countries to denounce Paludan’s protest in Sweden on January 21 and a similar incident in the Netherlands last week.
Other Arab states including Quwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also condemned the burning of the Holy Quran.
