Islamabad:
Pakistan expressed concern on Saturday as to the growing number of Islamophobic incidents across India and warned that the deliberate incentive of religious hatred for political or ideological purposes violates international human rights obligations in India.
Answering questions from the media, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shafqat Ali Khan, in a statement, said that Pakistan had firmly condemned the targeting of Muslims through hate speeches, discriminatory policies and acts of violence, would have been carried out with the complicity or silence of the Indian authorities.
“Pakistan calls on the Indian government to maintain the rights and security of all its citizens, whatever the faith,” said the spokesperson, warning that the deliberate incentives of religious hatred for political or ideological ends was in violation of international human rights obligations.
Khan added that such actions, at a time when restraint and reconciliation are the most necessary, undergo more prospects for community harmony and regional stability.
The declaration comes in the midst of increased tensions between the two nuclear arms neighbors after the accusations of New Delhi – leveled without proof – connecting Islamabad to the attack of Pahalgam in Iiojk. The Pakistani government has firmly rejected allegations.
Human rights organizations, including the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), have recorded at least 21 incidents of anti-Muslim violence across India in the days that followed the attack. These include physical assaults against Muslims in cashmere, hate speeches during public rallies and has reported calls for the expulsion of Muslim students from the hostels.
The situation was still ignited by the rise of incendiary music aligned with Hindutva ideology. The songs broadcast widely through platforms like YouTube and WhatsApp have been accused of having encouraged hatred against Muslims. Such a song, Pehle Dharam Pocha (“They asked questions about religion first”), surfaced shortly after Pahalgam’s incident, accusing the Indian Muslims of conspiracy against the Hindus. He collected more than 140,000 views in less than a week.
Other songs such as Ab ek Nahi Huye toh Kat Jaaoge (“If you are not united now, you will be shot”) and Jago Hindu Jago (“Wake Up, Hindus”) have called the Hindus to identify “Treatments in the country” – a phrase widely considered as a veile reference to Muslims.
In addition to the online hatred campaign, the Gujarat authorities have demolished around 2,000 huts, which, according to officials, were illegally occupied by undocumented migrants from Bangladesh. Activists, however, argue that demolitions are part of a broader scheme of systemic discrimination aimed at portraying Indian Muslims as “foreigners”.
