In a statement released on Sunday, the Foreign Office (FO) urged the Indian government to ensure safety, protection, and security of its minorities, specifically Muslims, and their places of worship. Pakistan called on India to fulfil its responsibilities under the Universal Declaration Human Rights and other international bodies, and consider the recommendations of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The statement lamented the demolition of the historic Babri Masjid in India, and said: “On this day, 28 years ago, Hindu zealots of the RSS-inspired BJP, backed by the state apparatus, demolished the centuries-old mosque in Ayodhya in an abominable act of anti-Muslim frenzy and blatant violation of religious and international norms.”
In the statement, Pakistan urged the United Nation, the international community, and other international organizations to play their role in protecting and preserving Islamic heritage sites in India from the extremist “Hindutva” regime, and to call for the protection of minorities in India.
“The new illegitimate structure, which the Hindutva-driven BJP has campaigned for and is bent upon constructing as part of its agenda of converting India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, is a scar on the face of so-called ‘largest democracy’ in the world,” the statement added.
According to the statement, the flawed judgement of the Indian Supreme Court in the Babri Masjid case in November 2019 pointed towards growing majoritarianism in India, where minorities, especially Muslims, were targeted.
The shameful acquittal of those responsible for demolishing the Babri Masjid in 1992 represented an egregious travesty of justice, said the statement.
“The extreme haste in starting construction of a temple at the Babri Mosque site amidst the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic, anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the looming National Register of Citizens (NRC) to disenfranchise Muslims, the targeted killings of Muslims in Delhi with state complicity in February 2020, and other anti-Muslim measures point to the fact how Muslims in India are being systematically demonized, dispossessed, marginalized and subjected to targeted violence,” the statement added.
