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Today in Focus

The Qur’an burnings in Sweden: who is fanning the flames? – podcast

Today in Focus

The Guardian

Daily News, News

4.5778 Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2023

⏱️ 24 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The act of burning a holy book in Sweden is not of itself illegal. But a spate of burnings has resulted in outrage at home and abroad – and potentially far-reaching consequences. Miranda Bryant reports from Stockholm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Guardian.

0:09.0

Today, the Quran is being burned in Sweden.

0:12.2

But who's fanning the flames?

0:23.6

To burn a holy book in Sweden,

0:26.4

you have to actually apply for a permit.

0:28.9

It's very orderly.

0:30.2

You tell the police what you plan to do,

0:32.5

wear and when, pay a fee about 25 pounds,

0:36.4

and then have at it.

0:38.3

The Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, if that's your thing,

0:42.2

you can just set it alight.

0:45.0

It's a pretty awful thing to do.

0:47.1

It can be disrespectful, offensive.

0:50.2

But in Sweden, it's legal.

0:52.4

There's a whole neat system for it, very scanned in.

0:56.7

But the world is changing,

0:59.7

and the Sweden you might imagine,

1:01.7

a harmonious haven of liberal politics,

1:04.7

that stands apart from the world's conflicts,

1:07.7

that was officially neutral even in World War II,

1:10.7

has also transformed.

1:18.7

Its population is more diverse than it's ever been.

...

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