GENEVA: Pakistan has strongly criticized India’s treatment of religious minorities at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), calling for an end to what it described as a dangerous trend of Islamophobia in India.
Pakistani delegate Rabia Ijaz challenged India’s representative regarding recent incidents, including threats made against Muslims by a BJP leader.
“Can the representative of India justify the recent incident where a BJP leader openly threatened to slaughter 200,000 Muslims,” Pakistani delegate Rabia Ijaz asked India’s representative who earlier accused Pakistan of mistreating its minorities.
She accused India’s leadership of using anti-Muslim rhetoric for political gain, citing instances such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi referring to Muslims as ‘infiltrators’ during campaign speeches. Ijaz also pointed to Hindu priests allegedly advocating for the genocide of Muslim minorities in India.
Earlier, India’s representative, Kajal Bhat, a counsellor in the Indian Mission to the UN, made the allegations in response to Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram’s sharp speech on Monday in which the Pakistani envoy, apart from New Delhi’s atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir, also highlighted the grave human rights abuses of Muslim’s in India.
Ijaz defended Pakistan’s actions, claiming swift condemnation and justice for acts against minorities, contrasting it with what she described as India’s complicity in communal tensions and lack of political will to address atrocities.
She highlighted statements from UN human rights experts criticizing India’s treatment of minorities and urged India to address these concerns rather than making baseless accusations against Pakistan.
The delegate also rejected India’s claims about the status of Kashmir. “Jammu & Kashmir dispute is neither a constitutional nor an internal matter of India,” she said, adding, “It has always been and continues to remain an internationally recognized dispute under relevant Security Council resolutions. It cannot be wished away by India through legal acrobatics.”
Jammu & Kashmir dispute is neither a constitutional nor an internal matter of India. It has always been and continues to remain an internationally recognized dispute under relevant Security Council resolutions. It cannot be wished away by India through legal acrobatics. pic.twitter.com/jmUmaLgVNk
— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN (@PakistanUN_NY) July 2, 2024
