India staunchly rejects Quran desecration, backs Pakistan’s UNHRC resolution
On behalf of the OIC, Pakistan introduced a draft resolution denouncing the "repeated incidents of public Quran burning in certain European and other nations."
India has expressed its support for a draft resolution introduced at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which denounces and firmly opposes the recent incidents of Quran desecration.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), based in Geneva, adopted a resolution titled ‘Countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence.’ Among the 47-member council, 28 voting members supported the resolution, 7 chose to abstain, and 12 voted against it.
India stressed the importance of ensuring accountability for the individuals responsible, in line with the obligations of international human rights law.
Among the countries that supported the resolution were Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Qatar, Ukraine, and the UAE. On the other hand, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, the UK, and the US were among the nations that voted against the resolution.
Pakistan, representing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and the State of Palestine, introduced the resolution. It urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council to condemn acts of religious hatred and the desecration of sacred books that fuel discrimination, hostility, or violence.
Furthermore, the resolution urged states to evaluate their national laws, policies, and law enforcement structures to identify any deficiencies that impede the prevention and prosecution of acts and promotion of religious hatred.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, acknowledged that the discussion surrounding the resolution was triggered by recent incidents of Quran burning, which profoundly impact more than a billion individuals for whom the Quran is the fundamental cornerstone of their faith.
Turk emphasized that these incidents are deliberately created to provoke feelings of contempt, anger, and division among people, effectively turning differences into hatred and potentially leading to acts of violence.
The act of burning the Quran, carried out by an Iraqi Christian immigrant in Stockholm and reportedly supported by the Swedish government, during the festival of Eid al-Adha last month, garnered extensive outrage and condemnation throughout the Islamic world.
