Swedish Muslim Party Calls for Burning of Sculpture by Mohammed Cartoonist

Wooden artwork structures at Ladonia Micro Nation near Kullaberg, Sweden.
Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Members of the Swedish Muslim Nyans Party have called for a sculpture by recently deceased Mohammed cartoonist Lars Vilks to be burned.

The sculpture Nimis, which is located on a beach on Sweden’s west coast and consists of towers and maze-like structures made of driftwood, has been labelled as a symbol of “Islamophobia” by members of the Nyans Party, who say the sculpture should be destroyed.

While the party members claimed that the structure should also be destroyed due to safety considerations, they went on to add that there were “moral aspects” to consider when it came to Lars Vilks, the creator of the artwork, in a debate article for newspaper Goteborgs Posten.

“What no one can ignore is that through his ‘art’, he was a driving force in the work to polarise Swedish society,” the members alleged, adding: “He was in a racist context and collaborated with racist organisations and individuals, most recently in a ‘controversial’ exhibition in increasingly far-right Poland.”

“For many, including Muslims, it is a misery to see Nimis standing. It has come to symbolise the normalisation and acceptance of Islamophobia and racism in society. Therefore, Nimis should be immediately burned down by the county administrative board,” they demanded.

Only recently formed, the Nyans Party announced in January of last year that they wanted to see Sweden give Muslims a special minority status and that Islamophobia-motivated crimes should receive a special classification.

Party chairman Mikail Yüksel, who is one of the signatories to the debate article regarding the Nimis sculpture, had originally been a member of the Centre Party but was kicked out after associating with the Turkish ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves.

In November, the party recruited a popular member of the Somali community in the no-go Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, hoping to make electoral inroads in one of Sweden’s heavily migrant background populated areas in next year’s national election.

The reactions to the death of cartoonist Lars Vilks have been varied, with Muslims on social media mocking the Swede and stating that he was likely going to Hell due to his publishing of a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed.

Two major Swedish-based Arabic language online news websites also claimed to have received a torrent of hateful comments after publishing the news that Vilks had died in a car crash earlier this month.

 

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.