Image Courtesy:abcnews.go.com
Three people were reportedly injured by “ricocheting bullets” when police fired “warning shots” to dissipate a crowd of protesters in the Swedish city of Norrkoping, as protests continued for the fourth straight day against an extreme right-wing group’s plan to burn copies of the Quran. Incidents of violence have so far been reported from Linkoping, Orebro, Norrkoping, Malmo, and even some suburbs of the capital city of Stockholm.
Tension has been rife since the group announced its plans on Thursday. Protests erupted in different cities and the first instances of violence were reported from Linkoping on Sweden’s east coast followed by riots in Orebro city on Friday. According to an Al Jazeera report, while three police officers required hospitalization due to the outbreak of violence in Linkoping, four policemen were injured on Friday in Orebro, apart from one other private individual.
A far-right group called Starm Kurs, that translates into Hard Line, led by Danish-Swedish Rasmas Paludan, announced its intentions of burning copies of the Quran at a demonstration in Linkoping. The group had also received police permission to hold a rally on Friday in Orebro. But police had to disband the rally and withdraw permission after violence broke out when rally participants clashed with those who were protesting the plan to burn the holiest religious text of Muslims. Several vehicles were set on fire, and protesters broke through police cordons.
It is noteworthy that the same Paludan had been arrested and jailed for a month in early 2020 in Denmark because of a similar call to burn copies of the Quran. He had also posted Islamophobic and inflammatory content on his group’s social media platforms. In fact, similar violence had broken out in Malmo in the southern part of Sweden in August 2020 as well. Paludan was deported from France for threatening to burn a copy of the Quran at the Arc de Triomphe on November 11, 2020, and five of his associates were deported from Denmark for similar plans, around the same time.
The international community has condemned the audacity with which the group declared its plans to openly burn copies of the Quran. Taking to Twitter, Saudi Arabian foreign ministry condemned the “deliberate abuse of the Holy Quran, provocations and incitement against Muslims by some extremists in Sweden.”
#Statement | The Kingdom of #Saudi Arabia condemns the deliberate abuse of the Holy Quran by some extremists in #Sweden. pic.twitter.com/uefX0xNzfR
— Foreign Ministry ?? (@KSAmofaEN) April 17, 2022
The foreign ministry of Qatar also issued a statement condemning the “burning of copies of the holy Qurán by extremists in the city of Malmo” and warned that the “populist inflammatory rhetoric is taking a dangerous turn”.
Statement | Qatar Strongly Condemns Burning of Copies of the Holy Qur’an by Extremists in Sweden#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/8xlKx6Lwur
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) April 17, 2022
Of course, Indian right-wing trolls could not sit back and had to jump in with their two-bits. Hateful and Islamophobic tweets were shared with much enthusiasm by such individuals and groups:
#swedenriots #DelhiRiots yes terrorism have religion , pic.twitter.com/7kxXWtctjZ
— Shailesh Tewarie #HinduLivesMatter (@shaileshbrahm) April 17, 2022
Divided by nation United By Ola Hu Uber..!
#swedenriots #जहांगीरपुरी #DelhiRiots #jahagirpuri #HanumanJayanti pic.twitter.com/FHTsx3Mx2L
— The Hermit (@imashutosh007) April 17, 2022
#SwedenRiots ? sorry but India was shouting for this for last few decades when Europe was preaching us Restrain.
All this countries were blaming Modi & Yogi. Now they will understand the nuisance of Radicalism. ??— Malabika Parasar?? (@MalabikaParasar) April 16, 2022
Delhi to Sweden to Israel…
Same weapon !!
Just desert cult things !! #swedenriots pic.twitter.com/Ys5fzwB6fc
— Kenden Tshering ?? (@kendentshering) April 17, 2022
Related:
Twitter vs Hate Speech battle now in France, court issues strict directions
Amnesty for Afghans: Can the world walk the talk?
Swiss Vote for Burqa Ban and Its Reaction among Indian Muslims