DUSHANBE, April 6, 2011, Asia-Plus — Presided over by Tajikistan (OIC Chair), an emergency meeting of the Ambassadorial Group of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) at the United Nations over the March 20 burning of the Koran took place in New York on March 25.
The OIC Group strongly condemned “the despicable act of the burning a copy of the Holy Koran by Pastors Wayne Sapp and Terry Jones in Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, on March 20, 2011.
Calling it an act of extremists guided by their hatred towards other cultures and religions, the OIC Group regretted that it took place in a church, a sacred place itself, reserved for prayers and remembrance of God.
The OIC Group shared the disappointment and concern expressed by the Secretary-General of the OIC over this reprehensible act of extreme bigotry, which has severely hurt the feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world, and cautioned that if necessary conditions were not created by the international community to prevent a recurrence of such Islamophobic acts, it would have grave repercussions over interfaith harmony as well as global peace, security and stability.
The Group urged the international community to unanimously condemn these acts that are clear examples of advocacy of incitement to hatred, discrimination and violence based on religion.
The OIC Group also called upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to express their unequivocal condemnation of the insidious desecration of the holy book of Islam and show action-oriented leadership to tackle the growing problem of religious intolerance, discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence based on religion and belief.
On April 5, the OIC ambassadors met with the Un Secretary-General ban Ki-moon.
UN News Center reports that Mr. Ban said that the recent burning of a copy of the Koran in the United States and similar actions anywhere else contradict the efforts of the United Nations to promote tolerance, intercultural understanding and mutual respect between cultures and religions. He condemned the incident in the state of Florida and said such actions cannot be condoned by any religion. The Secretary-General said he supported the UN High Representative of the Alliance of Civilizations, Jorge Sampaio, who noted in a statement on Sunday that the desecration of the Koran – as of any holy text – should be vehemently repudiated.
