ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi yesterday said that Muslims are being butchered in India.
In a statement, FM Qureshi said that all minorities including Muslims, Dalits, Sikhs and Christians are unsafe in India.
India, he said, had introduced controversial legislation such as Citizens Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens to crush the minorities.
“The whole world is witness to the Delhi riots in which several Muslims were killed and properties on large scale were ransacked. The construction of temple at the site of Babri mosque reflects the Hindutuva mindset,” he added. The FM said Indian forces were persecuting Muslims in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Other than Muslim majority Kashmir, in five other provinces – Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar – Muslim population is between 17 and 35 percent with a countrywide average of about 15 percent, making the Muslims an election influencer.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Qureshi has met the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Envoys based in Islamabad to thank them for OIC’s strong and unequivocal support during the 47th OIC FMs Session in Niamey.
Qureshi underlined that the unanimous adoption of a strong and comprehensive Resolution on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, explicit reiteration of the OIC’s principled position in the Niamey Declaration, and presentation of the Report on the visit of the Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir reaffirmed the centrality of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute for OIC and Muslim Ummah.
The Foreign Minister also thanked the OIC countries for their support in adoption of other resolutions of importance to Pakistan, including: Safeguarding the Rights of Muslim Minorities in non-OIC States and Destruction of Babri Masjid and Protection of Islamic Holy Places.
The OIC is the second-largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with 57 members and five observer states, spanning over four continents. It also represents the collective voice of Muslim Ummah. Pakistan is a founding member of the OIC.
On the political front, Foreign Minister Qureshi said the Pakistan Democratic Movement needed to review its policy of holding public gatherings in view of the alarmingly growing number of Coronavirus cases.
“The positivity ratio in Lahore is touching 10 percent where the PDM wants to hold a public meeting. It is not time for holding public gatherings if we see the threats being posed to human lives due to the pandemic,” he said.
The FM said internal instability was not good for the country as there was grave situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the Afghan peace process is entering into its final stage.
