It is perhaps one of those rare occasions when X has revealed the withholding of an account in both India and Pakistan. However, not much is known about why his account was banned. Momika’s contentious history though offers a cue into why X may have deplatformed him in both India and Pakistan.
Salwan Momika is believed to be a 38-year-old Iraqi immigrant who arrived in Sweden in April 2018 and was granted refugee status in April 2021. As per the reports, he is a former Iraqi military leader who was part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a pro-Iran outfit.
On social media, he presents himself as an atheist, enlightened politician, thinker, and novelist. However, he came into the limelight after he set fire to a Quran in front of Stockholm’s main mosque on June 28th, 2023, the first day of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.
He also placed slices of ham on the Quran and stamped on it with his foot, repeatedly yelling “Allahu Akbar” in a sneer. This demonstration prompted condemnations from worldwide, including Turkey, which had withheld Sweden’s NATO membership. However, Sweden became a NATO member in March 2024.
Notably, the demonstration by Momika was executed only after the Swedish authorities permitted him to carry out this act, and a judge granted him the privilege based on Sweden’s free speech principles.
Momika, in the aftermath of the protests in Stockholm, kicked and stomped on a copy of the Muslim holy book outside Iraq’s embassy. He did not burn it. He stated that he was protesting against Islam and for free speech. His actions have angered many Muslims and spurred protests in various nations since then.
Later in October 2023, amid the war between the State of Israel and Hamas, activist Salwan Momika expressed his solidarity with the Jewish nation by stepping on the Quran and waving the Israeli flag. The incident took place again in Stockholm on 21st October. Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden, was also seen kissing the Israeli flag and trampling a copy of the Quran with his foot.
A video of the incident had gone viral on social media.
Recently, in April 2024 several rumors were hyped claiming that Momika was found dead in Norway. However, the controversial protester had revealed that he was alive and was imprisoned in Norway after being considered a threat to “national security” due to his strong stance against Islamic traditions.
“The newspapers and news sites that published the news of my death in Norway are false and their goal is to intimidate everyone who doubts or criticizes Islam. Therefore, I say, that your rumours and false media will not scare us. I am alive and will not surrender despite the injustice I was subjected to by the Norwegian authorities,” he was quoted as saying in a separate post now unavailable given ‘legal demands’.
“When I arrived, they arrested me immediately and stripped me of my phones. They prevented me from communicating with anyone, and then they took me to court, where the court charged me with the following: “You are detained because you pose a threat to Norwegian national security.” The foolish old judge seemed fond of Islam, so I told him that neither your imprisonment nor your courts will frighten me,” Momika further wrote after being arrested in Norway.
According to Momika, he was hauled out of court and placed in a “secret prison” that was neither monitored by human rights organizations nor covered by the media. Later, he stated the event reminded him of Saddam Hussein’s “oppressive dictatorial regime.” He also said Norway is “ruled by fools and idiots who are in love with Islam,” which he will discuss in his upcoming book.
In a recent update to the case, it has come to the fore that Momika would face trial in Stockholm.
