Geneva — India on Wednesday voted in favor of a draft resolution tabled at the United Nations Human Rights Council that condemns recent acts of desecration of the Holy Quran.
The resolution, titled “Countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence”, was adopted by the 47-member Council with 28 members voting in favor, seven abstentions, and 12 nations voting against.
India’s vote in favor of the resolution condemned and rejected the recent public and premeditated acts of desecration of the Holy Quran. The resolution called on states to hold perpetrators of these acts accountable in line with international human rights law.
The draft resolution was brought by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the State of Palestine. It urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant special procedures to speak out against religious hatred and contribute to the examination of gaps in national laws, policies, and practices.
The resolution also called upon states to examine their national laws, policies, and law enforcement frameworks to identify gaps that impede the prevention and prosecution of acts of religious hatred and to take immediate steps to plug those gaps.
The debate on the topic was prompted by recent incidents of burning the Quran, which is the core of faith for over a billion people. The burning of the Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm last month by an Iraqi Christian immigrant, supported by the Swedish government, has sparked widespread anger and condemnation across the Islamic world.
Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, underlined that many societies are struggling with the weaponization of religious differences for political purposes. He warned against allowing ourselves to be instrumentalized by those who seek to divide us and emphasized the need to reject the deliberate provocation of hatred and violence.
