COPENHAGEN (Anadolu) – Denmark has been front and center in the ongoing wave of attacks on the Muslim holy book.
In recent months, far-right groups have desecrated and burnt several copies of the Qur’an in Denmark and neighboring Sweden, drawing fierce condemnation from Muslims around the world and calls for measures to stop such acts.
A diplomatic crisis could also be in the offing as the ultranationalist group Danske Patrioter, or Danish Patriots, has been carrying out its acts in front of the Turkish, Iraqi, Egyptian, Saudi and Iranian embassies under Danish police protection.
Faced with that possibility, the Danish government has come out with statements trying to distance itself from the incidents, and also hinting at possible legal changes to prevent them.
The government said it was open to exploring legal means to intervene in special situations where other countries, cultures and religions are demeaned, to prevent consequences that risk Denmark’s international standing and threaten its national security.
Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the “burnings are deeply offensive and reckless acts committed by few individuals … (who) do not represent the values the Danish society is built on.”
He said Denmark was “exploring the possibility of intervening in special situations,” but only “within the framework of the constitutionally protected freedom of expression.”
In comments to a local newspaper this week, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said measures to ban the desecration of holy books such as the Qur’an would not restrict freedom of expression in the country.
Meanwhile, academics known for their work on religion, faith, and society in the UK have said that attacks on the Muslim holy book Qur’an in Scandinavian countries are “extremist acts that must be prevented.”
Alison Scott-Baumann, a professor of society and faith at the Center for Islamic Studies at SOAS University, and David Thomas, a professor of theology and religion at the University of Birmingham, spoke to Anadolu Agency about the increasing Islamophobic attacks in Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden and Denmark.
Scott-Baumann stated that the acts of burning the Qur’an in Scandinavian countries are a result of the effect caused by the discourses of politicians and emphasized that these discourses are fed by the idea of “creating enemies in society” by Nazi philosopher Carl Schmidt.
“A democratic government should be able to tell the difference between free speech and deliberate provocation. This is an act of provocation,” she said.
She recalled the EU’s decision that “acts that incite violence are not freedom of expression but illegal acts.”
Despite this, Scott-Baumann emphasized that Scandinavian countries see themselves as “privileged” in terms of freedom of expression.