ISLAMABAD  - Pakistan yesterday’s said that that India was a threat to the Muslims. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi addressed letters to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General and his counterparts in the OIC.

Among other things, the Foreign Minister sensitised them towards this hate-mongering as part of the RSS-BJP dispensation’s anti-Muslim and anti-minority agenda, based on the extremist “Hindutva” ideology. He said that the rising wave of State-sanctioned hate crimes and Islamophobia in India has emerged not only as a threat to Indian Muslims but is also a matter of grave concern for the Muslim world at large. The Foreign Minister inter alia apprised about the BJP Government’s systematic campaign to demonize Muslims by holding them responsible for the spread of coronavirus.

He underscored that Indian actions are in contravention of relevant International Conventions and seriously undermine global efforts for religious harmony during these challenging times. “It is hoped that the international community will take due cognizance and urge India to reverse this course, which is fraught with risks for the safety and security of India’s minorities, particularly Muslims, and for their fundamental rights and freedoms,” he wrote.

Last week, Pakistan said India was crushing the Muslims and Held Kashmir when the whole world was fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign Office  spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that it was deeply disconcerting that the discriminatory and anti-Muslim policies and practices of the RSS-inspired BJP Government persisted even as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded.

“A systematic campaign is unfortunately underway to demonize Muslims, who face increased exclusion as well as the threat of mob violence. The OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)  in its recent statement expressed deep concern following the media accounts of rising anti-Muslim sentiments and Islamophobia within political and media circles as well as on social media platforms, where Indian Muslim minority community is being blamed for the spread of the corona virus in India,” she said,

The OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, she said, had also condemned the unrelenting vicious Islamophobic campaign in India maligning Muslims for spread of COVID-19 as well as their negative profiling in media subjecting them to discrimination and violence with impunity. The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the OIC, said: “OIC-IPHRC condemns the unrelenting vicious  Islamophobic campaign in India  maligning Muslims for spread of COVID-19 as well as their negative profiling in media subjecting them to discrimination & violence with impunity.”