Islamabad: Following a request from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to "send a strong message to Sweden," thousands of Muslims across Pakistan demonstrated in opposition to the burning of the Quran last week in Stockholm.
The largest anti-Sweden demonstrations took place in Lahore and Karachi, where tens of thousands of people congregated on major streets before peacefully dispersing. Lawyers carrying copies of the Quran demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court in the nation's capital, Islamabad, while worshippers outside mosques staged minor demonstrations calling for the breakup of diplomatic relations with Sweden. A group of minority Christians in the northwest also held a rally to denounce the incident.
In a televised speech in parliament the previous day, Sharif asked why Swedish police allowed the burning and urged his supporters “to send a strong message to Sweden” by taking to the streets. A similar call for protests was issued by former prime minister Imran Khan.
Meanwhile, the Swedish government is considering changing the law to allow police to prevent Quran burnings in public by turning down such requests, according to justice minister Gunnar Strommer. Sweden had become a "prioritised target" for strikes, he continued. “We can see that the Quran burning has generated threats to our internal security.”