By Our Diplomatic
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has urged the international community including the United Nations (UN), the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) and the Human Rights organizations to take practical steps to stop the Indian government from pursuing discriminatory and anti-minority policies, media reported.
At her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said the world community must ensure the protection of the minorities especially the Muslims and their places of worships and properties in India.
She said the large scale targeted violence against Muslims that took place in New Delhi in the backdrop of highly communal statements by the BJP leaders has been a matter of great concern for Pakistan and it is highly condemnable.
She also condemned the desecration and vandalization of places of worships in New Delhi. She said at least fourteen mosques and one Dargah were reportedly burnt down by Hindutva vigilantes within a span of three to four days. She said these sacred places were deliberately rampaged whilst copies of holy Quran were desecrated.
Voicing concerns over the gross human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and attempts to bring about demographic change there, the spokesperson said Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute which has been reaffirmed repeatedly by the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General and most recently by the OIC’s special envoy on Jammu and Kashmir.
Responding to a question about Afghanistan, the spokesperson said Pakistan has felicitated Ashraf Ghani over his election as the president of the country.
She said Pakistan has maintained that the US-Taliban peace agreement is a historic step towards the ultimate aim of achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan. She said it is now a significant opportunity to move towards the next step of intra-Afghan dialogue. She said Pakistan has played its role of facilitator and it is now the responsibility of Afghans and their representatives to take the process forward and arrive at a solution for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
To a question, the spokesperson answered that Pakistan has raised the issue of the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui with the US and our talks on the matter are continuing.
