ISLAMABAD, Feb 7 (APP):The Foreign Office on Friday firmly rejected anti-Pakistan statements by Indian president and prime minister, terming the same desperate attempts by New Delhi to divert attention from international criticism of its illegal and inhuman actions in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).
The Foreign Office spokesperson, in a statement, said the continuing irresponsible anti-Pakistan rhetoric, including the recent remarks by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, manifested the Indian desperation out of growing protests against anti-minority policies of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-inspired BJP government.
Such statements also manifested the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) familiar ploy of Pakistan-bashing as part of its electoral calculations, the spokesperson added.
“Allegations of mistreatment of minorities in Pakistan, based on sheer fabrications, are used by Indian leadership as a propaganda tool. Indian government’s pretensions of casting itself as homeland for minorities, allegedly persecuted in Pakistan, are preposterous. India simply does not have any credentials even to feign concerns for minorities, either at home or elsewhere,” she remarked.
The spokesperson said the RSS-BJP campaign for “Hindu Rashtra” had been responsible for the desecration and demolition of Babri Mosque, genocide of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat, and unending incidents of lynching and hate crimes against minorities, particularly Muslims, often with state complicity.
The images of shootings in the university campuses by the adherents of Hindutva, sponsored and protected by the RSS-BJP leaders, were enough to show the true face of India to the world, she added.
The spokesperson said the growing intolerance and extremist Hindutva ideology, that had permeated the Indian state institutions, not only threatened India’s minorities but also endangered regional peace and stability.
Pakistan urged the international community to take cognizance of unprecedented persecution of minorities in India, particularly Muslims, and the continuing inhuman lockdown and humanitarian crisis in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. “We hope steps would be taken to hold India accountable for its illegal action and make it respect its international obligations,” the spokesperson concluded.
