Federal Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on Tuesday slammed India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership for empowering the extremist Hindutva ideology.
In her address to the international seminar ‘Hindutva Policies and the State of Minorities in India, held by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), in Islamabad, Dr Mazari made note of the discrimination endured by Indian lower-caste Hindus and its religious minorities, including Sikhs, Muslims and Christians.
The minister said that Pakistan was particularly concerned by the plight of Muslims living in Indian-held Kashmir whose struggle for independence was being repressed by the Indian authorities under the guise of religious extremism.
“New Delhi is continuously violating United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions on Kashmir and attempting to change the demography of the held valley,” she added.
Dr Mazari believed that India had always “jeopardised peace of the region through its aggressive measures” and was now using the latest terror attack in Pulwama as a distraction for its upcoming polls. The UN was also criticised in her address for its role in resolving the dispute in Kashmir. Despite a similar stance on East Timor and Kashmir, the global champion of human rights and democracy was turning a blind eye to atrocities in Kashmir, she lamented. The international organisations were said to be ignoring all evidence of violations committed by India; tolerating it like a spoilt brat.
India urged to make religious minorities feel safe
The human rights minister urged India to pay attention towards resolving the issues being faced by its people instead of committing state terrorism in the region. “The internal situation of India is also deteriorating day by day as the minorities are not safe in India,” she added.
Other speakers present at the occasion included Pakistani Dalit leader, Senator Engr. Gianchand; Dr Akis Kalaitzidis from the US; Dr Nitasha Kaul from the UK; Murtaza Shibli from Indian-occupied Kashmir; Dr Mujeeb Afzal; former ambassadors Jalil Abbas Jillani and Zamir Akram; Dr Waqar Masood and Dr Asma Khwaja.
IPS Executive President, Khalid Rahman, presented the context of the seminar in his opening remarks and maintained that the present Indian regime had greatly increased the need to study the rising phenomenon of Hindutva. The support and state machinery being provided to extremist forces by the government was a matter of concern for the whole region.
The organisers also presented a book of speeches and papers on the same topic presented in a similar seminar held last year to Dr Mazari, titled, ‘Hindutva: Rising Extremism in India’.
Published in Daily Times, February 20th 2019.
