Muslim Minorities Monitor Condemns the Dutch Authorities’ Permission to Right-Wing Extremists to Desecrate and Burn the Holy Qur’ān

A leader of a far-right extremist group in the Netherlands desecrated, torn and then burnt a copy of the Holy Qur’ān, with permission and protection from the Dutch authorities. Therefore, Muslim Minorities Monitor emphasises the following:

• Muslim Minorities Monitor condemns in the strongest of terms the decision of the Dutch authorities to grant permission to right-wing extremists to desecrate and burn a copy of the Holy Qur’ān, in a provocative act to the Muslim minority of the Netherlands, and all Muslims around the world, only days after a similar crime in Sweden, which ignited international tension.

• The Monitor emphasises that contempt for Islamic sanctities, spreading of religious hatred and empowerment of Islamophobia, has never been, nor will it ever be justified in the name of freedom of expression. Rather, it constitutes a real threat to religious freedom and minority rights, and it minimises the chances of coexistence and harmony between the Muslim minority and the Dutch community.

• The Monitor calls upon all international rights groups, legal orgnisations, and the wise amongst European people of influence, to join alliance and lobby for the criminalisation of desecration and contempt for all religious sanctities, and the criminalisation of Islamophobia and advocacy for religious hatred.

• The Monitor calls on the Dutch authorities to take into account the rights of the Muslim minority in the Netherlands, to treat them equally with the rest of the Dutch community, and not to exploit their religious sanctities to achieve political gain or enable racist agendas, which may incite Islamophobia and threaten societal peace in the Netherlands.

  Released by Rights Monitor
  Muslim Minorities Monitor
  London, United Kingdom.