Anti-Pakistan smear campaign: India must set its own house in order

Mariana Baabar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday asked the Modi government to stop the ‘smear campaign’ against it, focus on the ongoing domestic unrest, stop feigning any dishonest concern for the minorities elsewhere and protect minorities from the ‘Saffron Terror’.

Commenting on the ongoing brutalities against protesters in India, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, “This is what happens when you empower a fascist ideology”. The unusual hard hitting response to New Delhi comes in the wake of continuing propaganda from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, giving a communal angle to the murder of a young Sikh man in Peshawar on Sunday and earlier an altercation between two Muslim groups outside Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib over a minor issue.

“The BJP government’s mischievous portrayal of isolated law and order incidents in Peshawar and Nankana Sahib as alleged ‘persecution’ of minorities is part of its smear campaign against Pakistan and a desperate attempt to divert attention from the ongoing state terrorism in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) and systematic discrimination against minorities in India,” commented the Foreign Office.

The politicization of the tragic killing of a Pakistani Sikh youth by India is also mischievous and reprehensible, he added.

“As this crime was reported, a case was registered immediately and a high-powered committee constituted to investigate the matter. The law will take its course and those responsible will be brought to justice. While inquiry reports are awaited from Peshawar, the perpetrator of the Gurdwara incident is in police custody,” added the Foreign Office.

Later, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi took to Twitter saying, “Chilling attack on students and teachers at #JNU yesterday is yet another reminder of growing intolerance in India. Campuses in India now face unchecked wrath of RSS mobs while the police collude with their insanity. This is what happens when you empower fascist ideology”.

Rejecting what it called are ‘fabrications’, Pakistan said this will in no way shield the BJP government from opprobrium by the international community for its illegal actions in the IOJ&K and the adverse fallout of discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“Pakistan attaches the highest respect and sanctity to all places of worship, including those belonging to the Sikh religion. We categorically reject Indian allegations regarding any ‘attack’ and ‘desecration’ at the holy Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. These blatant lies are yet another illustration of the quintessential RSS-BJP propagandadrive, which will fail,” added the Foreign Office.

Instead, the RSS-inspired BJP government has absolutely no credentials even to pretend that it is a protector of minorities, said the statement.

“Those who are responsible for the desecration and demolition of the Babri mosque, massive killings of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat, frequent incidents of mob lynching, and repeated hate crimes against minorities, simply have no feet to stand on”, said the Foreign Office.

Pakistan says it is a diverse country where people from different faiths, including Hindus, Sikhs and Christians, live together. The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees equal rights to all its citizens and the Government takes this obligation seriously with zero tolerance against any discrimination.

“The Sikh community, the world over, is aware of the importance that the Government of Prime Minister Imran Khan attaches to minorities and their places of worship. The historic opening of the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9, 2019 is a clear manifestation of the prime minister’s vision in this regard”, added the Foreign Office.

Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk

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