Millions of people on Friday rallied in streets across the country, condemning the incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden, as the nation observed ‘Youm-e-Taqaddus-e-Quran’ (Quran Sanctity Day).The call for observing the day was given by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier this week. Several rallies and demonstrations were taken out across the country after Friday prayers. Swedish flags were burned at these rallies across the country.Several political parties as well as civil society organisations organised the protests. The participants came from all walks of life, including political activists, business owners, employees, shopkeepers, teachers, lawyers etc.Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Amir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman addressed a protest of the minority community at the Karachi Press Club. Cardinal Joseph Coates, Yunus Sohn Advocate and others participated in it.About 3,000 supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) marched for kilometres, with some beating effigies draped in Swedish flags. About 5,000 more TLP members rallied in one of a dozen protests held in Lahore. Addressing a rally in Lahore, JI’s Ziauddin Ansari urged the government to call a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and to expel the Swedish envoy from the country. He also asked participants to boycott Swedish products.Political parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and others staged more than 200 protests across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Gilgit-Baltistan.Several rallies were brought out in Balochistan. At separate rallies in Chagai and Dera Bugti, the protesters carried placards and chanted slogans. The leaders said the intention behind the Sweden act was to hurt the sentiments of the Muslims across theApart from the federal and provincial capitals, protest rallies were brought out in other small and big cities of the country, where people came out for a peaceful demonstration against the Sweden incident and recorded a protest.Last week, a man had desecrated the Holy Quran in Sweden’s capital Stockholm, resulting in strong condemnation from several Muslim states, the OIC, the European Union, Pope Francis and the Swedish government, among others.
