Riots roiled cities across Sweden after Danish anti-immigration party Stram Kurs on April 14 announced to burn a copy of the Quran. On the next day, i.e Friday, nine police officers were injured after a violent mob attacked the police and engaged in arson attacks in the city of Orebro in central Sweden.
The clashes and rioting that followed the Quran-burning demonstrations have come up as a challenge before the nordic country in maintaining peace and law and order while diplomatic concerns have also been raised by International Islam over the issue.
Following the primary skirmishes that erupted in Orebro and Linköping, the city of Norrkoping saw Police officers firing warning shots at rioters on Sunday. The violence across cities in Sweden was sparked after the chief of the Danish anti-immigration party, Rasmus Paludan decided to burn a copy of the Quran in the Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of Linkoping. Citing blasphemy, resident Muslims in large numbers in the city square to protest.
Far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Holy Quran in a neighbourhood in Sweden’s Linkoping, which is densely populated by Muslims, on April 14.
— TRT World (@trtworld) April 15, 2022
While he was burning the Quran under police protection, the crowd shouted at Paludan pic.twitter.com/4G1V1cSq79
The protest resulted in stone-pelting on the police while the mob also carried out arson attacks. Vehicular movement was closed down over some roads in the Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of the city. Apparently, the rioters broke through police cordons and set four vehicles on fire, in the violence that followed in Orebro. On Monday, the Swedish police said 26 police officers and 14 civilians had been injured in the violence and that more than 20 vehicles had been damaged or destroyed. Rasmus Paludan, a Swedish politician has vowed to burn down the Quran again while he is touring the country to gather political support.
Response of Middle East countries on Quran burning in Sweden
Responding to the violence, Sweden has been attacked by Muslim countries, especially the Islamic countries in the Middle East, over the acts of ‘deliberate provocation’ against Muslims by senior political leaders in the country. Saudi Arabia, in a statement, has condemned the act of burning the holy book in Sweden saying, “deliberate abuse of the holy Quran by some extremists in Sweden, and provocation and incitement against Muslims”.
Earlier, Iraq’s foreign ministry summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires (deputy ambassador), Hakan Rooth over the incident. In a strong condemnation, Iraq said that the incident “bears grave implications on Sweden’s relations with all Muslims.” In Tehran, on Monday, The Foreign Ministry of Iran too condemned the ‘sacrilegious move’ of burning the Quran under the ‘pretext of freedom of speech and with the support of the Swedish police.’ Iran called for immediate and decisive action by the Swedish government to end any desecration of the Holy Quran furthermore.
The event was responsible for “defiling of the sanctities of more than two billion Muslims of the world and hurting their feelings as the worst form of abusing freedom of speech,” Iran’s letter to the Swedish diplomat said.
Arrest by the authorities
More than 40 people have been arrested after the clashes that followed between Muslim protestors and the Police in Sweden. Eight people were arrested in Norrkoping whereas 18 people were detained in the neighbouring city of Linkoping where the protests emerged for the first time.
The incidents of stone-pelting against Police forces and civilians have emerged as a common feature worldwide during the month of Ramzan. India saw stone-pelting at a Police station in Hubli, Karnataka over an alleged outrage over a social media post. On Sunday, Palestinian extremists threw stones to block Jewish visitors at Temple Mount at a bus near Jerusalem’s Old City.
