Afghanistan Peace CampaignIn Afghanistan’s 15 provinces, at least one Swedish institution operates in the fields of education, health, child welfare, or other areas.
The Islamic Emirate on Tuesday suspended all Swedish activities in Afghanistan in reaction to a Swedish citizen burning the Quran.
Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid issued a statement saying that the Islamic Emirate in reaction to the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden has stopped the activities of all institutions of this country in Afghanistan, and until this country apologizes to Muslims, its activities in Afghanistan will be stopped.
“Sweden allowed and insulted the Holy Quran; the Islamic Emirate condemns the evil and insolent acts and suspends all of Sweden’s activities in Afghanistan until Sweden begs for pardon from the Muslims,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate.
In Afghanistan’s 15 provinces, at least one Swedish institution operates in the fields of education, health, child welfare, or other areas.
“As a Muslim nation, it can respond and continue to condemn these actions in a way that does not harm Afghanistan itself and the Afghan nation,” said Aziz Marij, a political analyst.
“Governments are aware that the Swedish government was not engaged; for example, Erdogan met with the Swedish Chancellor yesterday. In any case, it’s possible that the Norwegian or Danish committees will take over the Swedish committee’s operations,” said Tariq Farhadi, another political analyst.
Meanwhile, some local officials and residents of Mazar-e-Sharif at a gathering condemned the burning of the Quran in Sweden.
“Islam is alive throughout the world, and they cannot put Islam out by burning a holy Quran,” said Hekmatullah Obaid, a religious cleric.
Clerics shared their views:
“Islamic countries have the right to take any appropriate measures to prevent the repetition of these criminal acts and to protect the sanctity…,” said Fazl Hadi Wazin, a religious cleric.
This comes as two weeks ago an Iraq-born Swedish citizen tore a copy of the Quran and lit it on fire outside the Stockholm Central Mosque.
The act was condemned by other nations throughout the world, including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Morocco.
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan addressed the issue in a statement:
“The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, SCA, is seeking dialogue with the de facto authorities of Afghanistan to clarify if the directive of July 11 to suspend all Sweden’s activities in Afghanistan will affect our organization,” the SCA said in a statement.
According to the statement, the SCA is not a Swedish government entity, SCA is independent and impartial in relation to all political stakeholders and states and is funded by a broad range of donors.
“SCA strongly condemns all acts of desecration of the Holy Quran, as we do any attempt to create conflict or hostility between people based on religious belief, ethnicity, nationality, or any other division,” the statement reads.