OIC Group slams holy Quran's desecration, other Islamophobic acts in Sweden.

UNITED NATIONS -- The OIC Group at the UN has strongly condemned the recent "abhorrent" act of holy Quran's desecration during rallies in Sweden organized by a Danish far-right party, and called for global efforts to counter the "alarming" rise of Islamophobia.

"Such Islamophobic behaviour hurts the sensitivities of over 1.5 billion Muslims and constitute a gross abuse of the right of freedom of expression and substantiate

extremist narratives", resulting in rising hatred and violence against Muslims, the group said in a joint statement issued Monday.

Ambassador Munir Akram, permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations and chairman of OIC group at the UN, chaired and moderated the ambassadorial-level meeting held last week.

"The OIC group unequivocally condemns the practice of insulting Islam, Christianity and Judaism alike, and stand against all acts of hate and violence on the basis of religion or belief," the joint statement said.

At the same time, the group said it strongly condemns other recent acts of Islamophobia, including "heinous" attacks on mosques, killing and injuring of worshippers, destruction of Muslim homes, ban on hijab and other anti-Muslim acts in various parts of the world.

The OIC group called on the international community to display a collective resolve to confront xenophobia, intolerance and incitement to violence on the basis of

religion or belief, and work together for promoting inter-faith harmony and peaceful co-existence.

"That has been the spirit behind the OIC's recent initiative by which the UN General Assembly has designated 15 March as the International Day to Combat

Islamophobia," the joint statement said, referring to last month's Pakistan-sponsored resolution.

Speaking for Pakistan, Ambassador Aamir Khan, deputy permanent representative to the UN, joined in the condemnation of Islamophobic acts in Sweden, but said,

While we remain concerned by the rise of Islamophobia in Europe, the OIC also needs to may equal attention to anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia in other parts of the world including in our neighborhood in India.

During the holy month of Ramazan, he said, there has been a visible surge in Islamophobic violence against...