The Quran burning incidents in the Sweden during 2023 have given rise to a multidimensional discourse at global level. There are voices that condemn the desecration acts in terms of blasphemy, religious hatred, and Islamophobia. On the other hand, there is a view point that the acts are protected under the laws of ‘freedom of expression’. In any case, the Quran burning incidents have attracted a lot of public and media attention around the globe. This research endeavor is an attempt to explore and analyze various themes produced by the selected international media in their coverage of the Quran desecration incident that took place in Sweden on June 28, 2023. Employing the quantitative and qualitative content analysis we have attempted to dig out the predominant themes produced by the media outlets including; Al Jazeera (Qatar), Dawn (Pakistan), India Today (India), New York Times (USA), and The Guardian (UK). Our findings show that Al Jazeera and Dawn condemned the burning of Quran incident and portrayed it as a manifestation of Islamophobia which would widen the ‘us’ verses ‘them’ dichotomy between Islam and the West. On the other hand, India Today and New York Times defended the act under the pretext of freedom of expression. However, The Guardian projected both sides of the story by criticizing both the burning of Holy Quran and the Muslim world reaction on it.

Index Terms- Burning of Quran, Desecration of Quran, Islamophobia, Freedom of expression, Blasphemy