The motion, brought by Pakistan in response to last month's incident, seeks a report from the U.N. rights chief on the topic and calls on states to review their laws and plug gaps that may "impede the prevention and prosecution of acts and advocacy of religious hatred.


Geneva: Muslim states including Iran and Pakistan on Tuesday said desecration of Holy Quran amounted to inciting religious hatred and called for accountability, as the U.N. rights body debated a contentious motion in the wake of Holy Quran burning in Sweden.
The motion, brought by Pakistan in response to last month's incident, seeks a report from the U.N. rights chief on the topic and calls on states to review their laws and plug gaps that may "impede the prevention and prosecution of acts and advocacy of religious hatred".
The debate highlighted rifts in the U.N. Human Rights Council between the OIC, a Muslim grouping, and Western members concerned about the motion's implications for free speech and challenges posed to long-held practices in rights protection.
An Iraqi immigrant to Sweden burned Holy Quran outside a Stockholm mosque last month, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and protests in several Pakistani cities.
"We must see this clearly for what it is: incitement to religious hatred, discrimination and attempts to provoke violence," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told the Geneva council via video, saying such acts occurred under "government sanction and with the sense of impunity".
His remarks were echoed by ministers from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia with the latter calling it an act of "Islamophobia". "Stop abusing freedom of expression," said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. "Silence means complicity."
Germany's ambassador Katharina Stasch called the burning a "dreadful provocation" and condemned it. But she added that "freedom of speech sometimes also means to bear opinions that may seem almost unbearable". France's envoy said human rights were about protecting people, not religions and their symbols.
Diplomats said intense negotiations had not led to a break through on Tuesday and expect a vote. Such a vote would almost certainly pass since OIC countries make up 19 members of the 47-member body and also have support from China and others.
U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk told the council that inflammatory acts against Muslims, as well as other religions or minorities, are "offensive, irresponsible and wrong".
Courtesy: Reuters
BLA suicide attack on Nushki-Dalbandin highway leaves 7 dead, many injured
- 6 hours ago

Four killed, three injured in separate terrorist attacks on police stations in KP
- 5 hours ago
Lashkar-i-Islam founder Mufti Munir Shakir killed, 3 others injured in Peshawar blast
- a day ago

The man whose tweets helped kill DEI
- 13 hours ago

Iran’s military vows retaliation in response to Trump’s threats
- an hour ago
33 killed, dozens injured as tornadoes hit Central US
- 5 hours ago
New Zealand storms to nine-wicket win over Pakistan in first T20I
- 5 hours ago
Five killed as coaster plunges into ravine in Azad Kashmir
- 4 hours ago
No change in prices of petroleum products
- 16 hours ago

Karachi's Soba Nagar transforms through collaborative WASH initiative
- 2 hours ago
Fire at Kochani nightclub kills 51, injures over 100
- 5 hours ago

Woman dies after falling from Karachi building during drug raid
- 5 hours ago