via. Associated Press
In a move to criminalize the public ‘mistreatment’ of religious objects, the Danish government, on Friday, proposed a bill banning the burning of religious scriptures in Copenhagen. Under the law, it will be a criminal offense to publicly burn the copies of the holy books – Quran, Bible, or Torah.
At a press conference, the justice minister, Peter Hummelgaard dubbed the recent Quran burnings as “senseless taunts” conspiring to incite hatred and animosity. He clarified that the new law will treat the offense the same as the desecration of other countries’ flags. He added that those found guilty could be serving the next two years in prison.
The proposed law is set to be enforced by the end of the year if it gets approved by parliament. However, it’s unclear when the 179-seat Danish parliament, ruled by a three-party coalition government, will be voting on the bill.
The bill is getting intensely scrutinized by Danish nationalists for violating ‘free expression’ – historically championed by Denmark and neighboring Scandinavian countries. Concerns over the minority’s sway over the Danish government have also been noted. Diplomatic pressure by Muslim-majority countries over the Quran burnings is also mounting. Authorities in England and the US have indicated the increased risk of terrorist attacks in the country.
Free Expression
Danish nationalists and critics have condemned the bill as a violation to the country’s historical tradition of championing ‘free speech and expression’ rights. The opposition party Liberal Alliance expressed concern for Danes and stated it was “a good day for extremists.”
Think Tanks and analysts noted the bill’s effort to comfort the mainstream Muslim community. Referring to the Quran mistreatments, they criticized the sway of “very few people” over the Danish authorities.
Denmark’s confrontation surrounding free speech and Islam can be traced back to the year 2005, when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoon visuals featuring prophet Muhammad, sparking violent outrage, blasphemous calls, and deadly attacks.
Diplomatic Pressure
Denmark and Sweden are facing a huge diplomatic crisis as governments in many Muslim-majority countries have expressed anger against its widespread Quran desecration activities.
Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, Denmark’s deputy prime minister, reiterated on Friday, that the country is in a critical foreign-policy situation and the government cannot sit idle.
Denmark had scrapped blasphemy laws in 2017 ; Sweden hasn’t had blasphemy laws in place since 1970.
Rising Extremism
In opposition to Muslims immigrating to Scandinavia, the extremists have, on multiple occasions, burned the Quran to express dissent.
But this year, tensions started flaring when Rasmus Paludan, a far-right extremist, burnt a copy of the Quran publically in January.
In a June incident, Salwan Momika, an immigrant from Iraq, set a Quran copy ablaze outside a mosque in Stockholm. The tensions peaked, when a Muslim man, attempting to expose depreciating acts, was granted permission to burn a copy of Torah and Bible outside the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm.
“Most serious security threats since WWII”
A month ago, Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s Prime Minister, expressed grave concerns over the region’s security situation – “ the most serious since World War II”. The terrorism threat level has maxed on the 5-point scale.
Recently, the US and UK announced that the Danish government has neutralized several “terror attacks” in the past few months and made arrests following the Quran burnings.
Briefing over state security, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard had commented that religious provocations can damage the security of Danes both abroad and at home.
