UN Declares March 15 International Day to Combat Islamophobia
By Elaine Pasquini
Washington
On March 15, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution declaring this date as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, introduces the resolution on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
Munir Akram, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, introduced the resolution on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The increasing Islamophobic attacks around the world are “acts of discrimination, hostility and violence towards Muslims, individuals and communities and constitute grave violations of their human rights, and violate their freedom of religion and belief,” the ambassador said, noting the resolution is designed to unite faiths, not divide them.
After the vote, Prime Minister Imran Khan praised the UN action, tweeting: “I want to congratulate the Muslim Ummah today as our voice against the rising tide of Islamophobia has been heard and the UN has adopted a landmark resolution introduced by Pakistan, on behalf of OIC, designating March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia.”
Pakistan has been at the forefront of calling for the world to unite in countering Islamphobia and has repeatedly stressed the need for action in this regard. Prime Minister Khan first raised the issue in his 2019 address to the United Nations General Assembly.
The resolution was co-sponsored by Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
India, France and the European Union expressed concern that the resolution was too narrow and did not sufficiently address other religions, although the resolution specifically calls for freedom of religion and “the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief.”
The date of March 15 is significant as it was the day in 2019 a gunman killed 51 Muslims during Friday prayers inside two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, wounding 40 others. The perpetrator of the attack had been inspired by multiple hate-mongers in the United States and Europe.
The resolution proposes that the international community organize “high-visibility events aimed at effectively increasing awareness at all levels” to curb Islamophobia.
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
