Pakistan asks India to save religious minorities from ‘Saffron terror’

FO slams Modi’s smear campaign against Pakistan to take spotlight off persecution of religious minorities in India

KARACHI: The Narendra Modi government cannot escape international censure over its systematic marginalisation of religious minorities by mounting a smear campaign against Pakistan, the Foreign Office said on Monday.

The Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which is pushing ahead with its communal agenda under Modi, has frequently used its anti-Pakistan narrative for political gains.

Modi is unsettled by his failure to quell widespread protests stoked by the highly discriminatory laws introduced by him. The despotic use of force to subdue the protests has only called India’s democratic credentials into question.

The Modi administration is desperate to take the global spotlight off its internal chaos. And as part of its diversionary tactics, it’s using two isolated incidents of law and order involving the minority community members to accuse Pakistan of persecution of religious minorities.

A man, identified as Imran, recently incited a protest at a square in Nankana Sahib by giving communal colour to a personal dispute. The man has since been arrested and booked under Anti-Terrorism Act – a non-bailable offence. The Indian government and its jingoistic media, however, claimed that the protesters pelted stones at Gurdawara Nankana Sahib.

“The BJP government’s mischievous portrayal of isolated law and order incidents in Peshawar and Nankana Sahib as alleged ‘persecution’ of minorities is part of its smear campaign against Pakistan and a desperate attempt to divert attention from the ongoing state terrorism in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) and systematic discrimination against minorities in India,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

“Pakistan completely rejects these fabrications, which will in no way shield the BJP government from opprobrium by the international community on its illegal actions in IOJ&K and the adverse fallout of the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC),” she added.

The statement came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan sought to snub Modi government’s attempts to cash in on a law and order incident in Nankana Sahib, in Punjab.  “The major difference between the condemnable Nankana incident and the ongoing attacks across India on Muslims and other minorities is this: the former is against my vision & will find zero tolerance,” he wrote on Twitter.

“In contrast, Modi’s RSS vision supports minorities oppression and the targeted attacks against Muslims are part of this agenda. RSS goons conducting public lynching, Muslims being violated by mobs are all not only supported by the Modi govt but Indian police leads anti-Muslim attacks,” he added.

Officials have repeatedly said that Pakistan attaches the highest respect and sanctity to all places of worship, including those belonging to Sikh religion.

“We categorically reject Indian allegations regarding any ‘attack’ and ‘desecration’ at the holy Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. These blatant lies are yet another illustration of the quintessential RSS-BJP propaganda drive, which will fail,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in the statement.

“The Sikh community, the world over, is aware of the importance that the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan attaches to the minorities and their places of worship. The historic opening of the Kartarpur Corridor on 9 November 2019 is a clear manifestation of the prime minister’s vision in this regard,” she said.

A Sikh youth, identified as Parvender Singh, was found dead in Peshawar on Saturday night. Parvender Singh, a resident of Shangla district, had reached Peshawar a day earlier to shop for his wedding. Police are investigating the motives.

“Indian attempts to politicise the tragic killing of [the] Pakistani Sikh youth are also mischievous and reprehensible. As this crime was reported, a case was registered immediately and a high-powered committee constituted to investigate the matter. The law will take its course and those responsible will be brought to justice.”

Pakistan is a diverse country where people from different faiths, including Hindus, Sikhs and Christians, live together. The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees equal rights to all its citizens and the government takes this obligation seriously with zero tolerance against any discrimination.

“The RSS-inspired BJP government has absolutely no credentials even to pretend that it is a protector of minorities. Those who are responsible for the desecration and demolition of the Babri mosque, massive killings of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat, frequent incidents of mob lynching, and repeated hate crimes against minorities, simply have no feet to stand on,” the spokesperson said.

“Rather than feigning any dishonest concern for minorities elsewhere, the BJP government would do better by focusing on the ongoing human tragedy at home and protecting India’s minorities from ‘Saffron terror’,” she added.