F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday summoned a senior Indian diplomat for a second time in a month at Foreign Office in Islamabad to dismiss New Delhi’s “mischievous” propaganda on religious minorities.
India’s attempts of portraying “isolated and fabricated” incidents involving Pakistani citizens as minorities rights issues were rejected, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
“It was underscored that such machinations cannot divert attention from the criticism the Indian government is facing for its own discriminatory policies against minorities and the ongoing state terrorism in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K),” it said.
The official statement further added that New Delhi was also conveyed that minorities in Pakistan enjoy full protections and rights under the Constitution.
The FO also emphasised that the legal system of Pakistan is fully capable of protecting the rights of all its citizens.
Earlier this month, the Foreign Office had summoned Indian Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia to convey Pakistan’s strong rejection of baseless and fabricated allegations of mistreatment of the Sikh minority community in the country – particularly in the wake of a protest at Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib.
A man, identified as Imran, had incited a protest at a square in Nankana Sahib by giving communal colour to a personal dispute. The man has since been arrested and booked under anti-terrorism act – a non-bailable offence.
The Indian government and its jingoistic media, however, claimed that the protesters pelted stones at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib.
In today’s meeting, the FO urged the Indian authorities to refrain from “feigning concern for minorities elsewhere for narrow political agenda and to focus on putting their own house in order and ensure effective protection of Indian minorities, including from frequent incidents of mob lynching and repeated hate crimes against minorities.”
In December, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, led by hardline Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pushed through the controversial anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act.
India has been witnessing extensive protests against the law, since it was cleared by the country’s Parliament and got presidential approval on December 12. It guarantees citizenship to non-Muslims of three neighbouring countries — Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
