Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said the desecration of the Holy Quran was an attempt to create animosity between the Muslims and Christians and any recurrence of such a condemnable act would in no way be tolerated.

The prime minister, in his address to the joint sitting of the parliament, urged the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convene a special session to invite the Muslim world leaders, adopt a condemnatory resolution and also warn the Swedish government and such individuals against the recurrence of such condemnable act.

“Mr Speaker, we have gathered here today to condemn the desecration of the Holy Quran in the strongest of words, suggest measures to prevent such incidents in the future and pass a resolution on it,” the premier said while addressing the session, which was attended by parliamentarians from both treasury and opposition benches.

He urged National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to constitute a committee for this purpose.

The committee, he stated, would come up with recommendations to prevent such incidents in the future, which could be presented on forums across the world.

“It will be my responsibility to send the resolution and recommendations to Sweden.”

He said as per their belief, Muslims revered all religions and revealed books including Bible as Holy Quran taught patience and harmony.

He said despite that, such deliberate Islamophobic acts were being carried out to pit Muslims against Christians.

“Never has anyone heard or seen here that the Bible was desecrated or burnt. We respect all these religions so that no one raises a finger at our religion or book.”

The PM claimed that such events were a part of “a conspiracy to create rifts between Christians and Muslims” and demanded that such actions should be condemned.

“The incident that took place in Sweden on Eid […] no one ever thought that the police would let something like this happen in their custody and security […] we need to tell the world that this won’t be tolerated,” he asserted.

“It is a part of our belief that we should sacrifice our lives to uphold the honour of the Holy Quran without worrying about anything. These protests that are taking place today and the restraint that we are showing must not be seen as a weakness.”

The premier then called on people from all walks of life, political and religious parties to take to the streets on Friday (July 7) and register their protest against the incident and “give a message to the world”.

He said that despite their belated condemnation, the Swedish government would have to clarify its position as to why they allowed such an act under the protection of their police on the day when the Muslims were celebrating Eid-ul-Azha.

The prime minister urged the parliamentarians to condemn the act of the Swedish police and make it clear that the Muslims could even sacrifice their lives to protect the sanctity of the Quran.

He said the peaceful protests should not be construed as weakness and that no one should complain about the consequences if such condemnable actions were repeated.

He said Pakistan was not against the freedom of speech but no one had the right to desecrate any one’s belief or fan hatred in this garb.

Prime Minister Shehbaz urged the House to put forward suggestions which would be raised at the UN platform to tell the world that the billions of Muslims will not allow such hateful acts to be repeated.

“This is beyond tolerance. This is not the first time as earlier too, the same thing happened in Sweden. This must be condemned in the strongest possible words,” he remarked.

The prime minister recalled and appreciated the former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her support to the Muslims, after an Islamophobic attack against Muslims, which was a positive attempt to establish peace between Muslims and Christians.

He told the House that he was trying to contact the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to request him for convening an urgent session to invite the Muslim leaders and adopt a condemnatory resolution. I will also ask him to warn such governments and individuals against redoing such acts aimed at fanning hatred, he added.

The prime minister thanked Pope Francis for condemning the act saying his dissociation of such Islamophobic action gave a positive image.

The prime minister said he would convey the parliamentary resolution to the Swedish government as the Foreign Office was also making its due efforts on the diplomatic fronts.

After PM Shehbaz concluded his address, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf directed Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to draft a resolution in consultation with the leaders of all parties in the house and submit it before the session concluded.