Pakistan condemns closure of Muslim girls’ school in IIOJK

Pakistan has condemned the sealing off of an educational institute for Muslim girls in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) highlighted that Indian forces gate-crashed Darul Uloom Khadijatul Kubra in the occupied territory on Friday, and insulted and maltreated the female students before forcefully evicting them. Thereafter, it added, the educational institute was sealed.

“This illegal act is a fresh reflection of how Indian occupation forces are trampling on and making a mockery of the fundamental rights of Kashmiri girls seeking education,” it remarked.

It also added that the move points towards growing Islamophobia not only in the occupied territory but also in India.

“Denying Muslim girls access to education, be that in IIOJK or in Karnataka, is a new low under a far-right Hindutva-inspired regime in India,” it further stated.

The FO pointed out that the deafening silence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and lack of discernible action against ‘Hundutva’ proponents must send alarm bells across the international community about the gross and systematic human rights violations being perpetrated by India.

It, therefore, called on the international community to take cognisance of the BJP-RSS agenda to socially and politically disempower the Kashmiris living in the occupied territory, especially the youngsters belonging to the Muslim community.

It also called upon the international community, including the United Nations (UN) and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), especially their human rights bodies, to take immediate notice of the worrying level of Islamophobia in India, and to urge the Indian authorities to prevent systematic human rights violations against minorities, particularly Muslims, in the country.