-Pakistan asks int’l community to play its role in preserving Islamic heritage sites in India
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has called upon the world community, the United Nations and relevant international organisations to play their role in preserving Islamic heritage sites in India from the extremist ‘Hindutva’ regime.
On the 28th Anniversary of the tragic demolition of the historic Babri Masjid, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri on Sunday urged India to ensure the safety, security and protection of minorities, particularly Muslims and their places of worship.
“Today is a sad reminder of the demolition of the historic Babri Masjid in India,” he said, adding that the painful scenes of the demolition of Babri mosque in 1992 still remain fresh in the minds of not only Muslims but all conscientious persons in the world. He termed the new illegitimate structure – which the Hindutva-driven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has campaigned for and is bent upon constructing as part of its agenda of converting India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ – as a scar on the face of so-called “largest democracy” in the world.
He said that the flawed judgement of the Indian Supreme Court in the Babri Mosque case last year not only reflected the preponderance of faith over justice but also the growing majoritarianism in today’s India. He also said that the recent shameful acquittal of the criminals responsible for demolishing the historic Babri Mosque in 1992 represented another egregious travesty of justice.
“The extreme haste in starting construction of a temple at the Babri Mosque site amidst the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic, anti-Muslim citizenship amendment act (CAA), the looming national register of citizens (NRC) to disenfranchise Muslims, the targeted killings of Muslims in Delhi with state complicity in February 2020, and other anti-Muslim measures point to the fact how Muslims in India are being systematically demonised, dispossessed, marginalised and subjected to targeted violence,” read the statement.
It said that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has passed numerous resolutions, condemning the odious act of demolishing the historic mosque. Recently, at the 47th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held at Niamey, the OIC called upon the Indian government to take immediate steps to implement its commitment to reconstruct the Babri Mosque on its original site and to punish those responsible for its demolition, prevent the construction of the temple on its site, take immediate steps to ensure the protection of the other 3,000 mosques, and ensure the safety and protection of the Muslims and Islamic holy sites throughout India.
He maintained that in line with that spirit, Pakistan once again urges the Indian government to ensure safety, security and protection of minorities, particularly Muslims and their places of worship, and fulfil its responsibilities under the universal declaration of human rights and other international instruments, including the recommendations of the OIC.
