“We feel that even those harbouring malice towards the Quran should read it once and try to understand its message. It is the only religious book that rises above blind faith and dogma and appeals to intellect and reason.”
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – The burning of a copy of the Holy Quran is a racist and provocative act and a hate crime. The person who indulged in this heinous act should be immediately arrested and prosecuted, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has said.
In a statement issued here on Monday, Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Prof. Salim Engineer, condemned the burning of the Quran copy outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, Sweden by a far-right activist.
“We unequivocally condemn the act of the burning of the Quran in Sweden. It was a racist and provocative act and a hate crime. The person who indulged in this heinous act should be immediately arrested and prosecuted,” the statement said.
“Jamaat-e-Islami Hind believes that all religious books and personalities deserve proper respect and cannot be subject to any denigration and acts of slander or disparagement. There should not be any discrimination and we cannot be selective in the condemnation of such acts. Such desperate acts that seek to create a rift within communities should not be condoned by any civilized society,” it said.
Even those harboring malice towards Quran, he said, should read it once and try to understand its message. “It is the only religious book that rises above blind faith and dogma and appeals to intellect and reason. The Quran presents a very rational narrative about the metaphysical world that is both logical and convincing. We must unite in condemning these acts of insulting holy books and personalities. It is symptomatic of moral decadence and blind aggression against other faiths,” he said.
The JIH official urged urge all to exercise utmost restraint. “The protest or condemnation should be within the ambit of the law and in a civilised and peaceful manner,” he said.
The Indian government, JIH statement said, should condemn this act and convey its displeasure to the Swedish embassy in India.
