The violence in the Swedish city of Malmo is a manifestation of the spread and virulence of radical Islam. More than 300 Muslims protested against what they regarded as anti-Islam activities and indulged in vandalism and arson. The objective was simple: destroy anybody upholding the most cherished ideal of the Western civilization—free speech.

Rasmus Paludan, leader of a nationalist party in Denmark, sought permission to hold a meeting in Malmo against the “Islamization in the Nordic countries.” Paludan not only held the meeting but also burnt the Quran. The response from Muslims was unsurprising: “Crowds of young men wielded bars taken from street signs and metal barriers, and threw stones and fireworks after smashing up bus shelters. Further up the road, cars, tyres, pallets and rubbish bins were set ablaze” (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/29/riots-rock-malmo-after-far-right-swedish-activists-burn-quran).

Now, burning the holy book of any religion is not a nice act, but Muslims, and other immigrants to Europe, should realize that in general Europeans don’t believe in the very concept of blasphemy. So, the laws checking it have fallen into disuse. In Denmark, for instance, the “blasphemy law has been invoked only a handful of times since its creation in 1866, most recently in 1971, when two people broadcast a song mocking Christianity and stirred a debate over female sexuality. They were acquitted” (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/world/europe/denmark-quran-burning.html).

But when Europeans find that their age-old rights and freedoms are being encroached upon, they get upset. For example, it was galling for them to see a 42-year-old man being charged with blasphemy in 2015 in Denmark for burning a Quran and posting a video of the act on Facebook.

It was “a striking decision by prosecutors in a country that is largely secular but has grappled with the role of Islam in public life,” The New York Times wrote on February 23, 2017. “The decision stunned many Danes: No one has been convicted of blasphemy in Denmark since 1946, and the country has a long tradition of free speech; burning the flag is not a punishable crime.”

It is not unnatural for the Danes, Swedes, and other Europeans to believe that their countries—indeed their very civilization—is facing an invasion. Their laws are being changed to suit the interests and inclinations of Muslim immigrants. They see this invasion all around.

Intellectuals, however, don’t believe what they see; they see what they believe in; and they believe in phony concepts like multiculturalism and political correctness. Therefore, radical Islam and jihad—whose manifestations can be seen all over the place—are not the problem; Islamophobia is (This reminds us how much Rahul Gandhi is manipulated by Leftwing intellectuals. When his party was in power, he had told the American ambassador to India that Hindu terror was a much bigger problem than jihad).

The result is that more and more locals in Europe are getting frustrated; burning the Quran is an expression of that frustration. We shouldn’t forget that Rasmus Paludan was not allowed to protest.

In general, it will be wrong to dub people opposing curbs on free speech as racist or bigoted. Even more wrong it is to denounce countries or civilizations are racist, as the Left is doing these days.

The mainstream media too ought to put things in perspective. It should not heap the entire blame on ‘far-Right’ politicians and activists, while downplaying the role of radical Islam. Otherwise, more cities in Europe, and elsewhere, burn..