Pakistan draws UN attention to mosque demolition in India

The Pakistani mission at the UN has also drawn attention of the world body to last week's "brazen" demolition of the centuries-old Akhonji mosque in New Delhi, and called for the UN intervention to protect Islamic sites in India.

Pakistan has also warned that human security is not possible without allowing the people to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination, like those struggling for freedom in Palestine and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Pakistan’s Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, in a letter to the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), said that the demolition of the Akhonji mosque “marks another highly disturbing chapter in an alarming campaign targeting Islamic sites and heritage in India”.

Akram said in the letter to UNAOC top official Miguel Angel Moratinos that the demolition of the mosque symbolises a concerning rise in Hindu-majoritarianism, adding that the state's support for normalising such incidents poses imminent threats to the well-being of the Indian Muslims.

The Akhonji mosque, standing for over 800 years, was abruptly demolished by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials in the middle of the night under a significant police presence, catching the local community, mosque-goers, and Madressah students entirely off guard without any prior warning.

“The pervasive influence of the 'Hindutva' ideology, alongside alarming incidents of Islamophobia and the demolition of historic mosques, calls for immediate and unwavering international attention,” the Pakistan envoy said.

Separately, Pakistani representative Senator Mohsin Aziz told the Annual Parliamentary Hearing at the UN that human security cannot be guaranteed when people around the world are denied their fundamental right to self-determination.

Annual Parliamentary Hearing is a joint initiative of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The event, hosted by UNGA President Dennis Francis and IPU President Tulia Ackson, which is attended by some 300 participants from more than 70 countries.

"Human Security cannot be guaranteed when people over the world are denied their fundamental right to self-determination," Aziz said. The Kashmir tragedy, he added, has intensified after the unilateral measures taken by India on the 5th of August 2019.

"Simultaneously, a concerted effort is under way [by India] to change the demographic structure and composition of the occupied territory [of Kashmir], a direct violation of the resolutions of the Security Council," he added.

Aziz reaffirmed Pakistan's full support and solidarity with the Palestinian people in these tragic times. “How much more blood, starvation, brutality and misery the world has to witness before we can come to a ceasefire and a reduction in the suffering of Palestinians in general," he asked.

Senator Mohsin Aziz told the Annual Parliamentary Hearing that the past four months have illustrated the consequences of the suppression of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people as over 27,000 civilians have been killed by Israel in Gaza.