Pakistan condemns Islamophobic incidents in Sweden, Netherlands

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned the recent abhorrent act of desecration of the Holy Quran during rallies in Sweden, says a press release.

The Foreign Office said that Pakistan also strongly condemned the offensive remarks made by a Dutch politician, attacking Islam and the Muslim holy month of Ramazan. “These mindless provocative Islamophobic incidents serve no purpose other than hurting the sensitivities of over 1.5 billion Muslims living all over the world. Such actions are not covered under legitimate expressions of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, which carry responsibilities under international human rights law, such as the obligation not to carry out hate speech and incite people to violence, the FO statement said.

“Muslims, including in Pakistan, unequivocally condemn the practice of insulting Islam, Christianity and Judaism alike, and stand against all acts of violence on the basis of religion or belief. These principles must be equally respected and supported by all,” FO said.

The international community needs to show a common resolve against xenophobia, intolerance and incitement to violence on the basis of religion or belief, and work together for promoting inter-faith harmony and peaceful co-existence. That has been the spirit behind the OIC’s recent initiative led by Pakistan at the UN General Assembly to designate 15 March as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

Pakistan’s concerns have been conveyed to the authorities in Sweden and The Netherlands. They have been urged to take cognizance of the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and the Muslims worldwide and take steps to prevent Islamophobic incidents.

“We call on the international community to demonstrate solidarity and commitment to the ideals of building peaceful and harmonious societies for the betterment of humanity.”

Mariana Babar adds: Meanwhile, the Foreign Office on Monday condemned the recent spree of targeted attacks against the Muslim community by “fanatic Hindu mobs” in various Indian states, calling the international community to hold the country accountable “for its gross and widespread human rights violations.”

Referring to a recent incident in Jahangirpuri, the FO pointed out that attempts to hoist the saffron flag at Delhi’s Jamia Masjid, derogatory sloganeering, playing of provocative music and the brandishing of weapons by a Hindu procession while Muslims were waiting to break their fast revealed the "gravity of the state-sanctioned hysteria and hatred in India against Muslims.”

This incident has re-kindled the horrific memories of the Delhi pogrom of February 2020, which was aimed to discriminate, dispossess and dehumanise the Muslim community," the FO said.

It also referred to the Ram Navami riots, which spread across many Indian states, saying that they spotlighted the country's “precipitous slide into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.”

“Harrowing scenes of demolition of houses, businesses and shops belonging to Muslims and the vandalisation of mosques by local authorities in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat reveal the deep penetration of Hindutva ideology into the fabric of Indian state and society.”

The statement said it was regrettable to note a rapidly increasing trend in India of using Hindu religious processions to fan communal hatred and instigate anti-Muslim violence.

“Even more alarming is the fact that the local authorities that were evidently complicit in the fear-mongering have launched a concerted campaign against the Muslims on the pretext of a crackdown against ‘alleged rioters’, it said.

The Indian government was asked to transparently investigate the incidents of widespread violence and intimidation against Muslims and their places of worship and initiate demonstrable efforts to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents.

Pakistan also called upon the international community, particularly the United Nations and relevant international human rights and humanitarian organisations to question India and hold it accountable for repeated violations of human rights in the country.

In an unrelated development Pakistan has decided while expressing its sincere efforts towards addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, decided to grant two months’ extension to facilitate completion of the transportation of Indian humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

“All the modalities shall remain the same as earlier communicated to the Indian side. In November 2021 Pakistan had approved, as a special gesture to the Afghan people, the transportation of 50,000 MTs of wheat and life-saving medicines as humanitarian assistance from India to Afghanistan via Wagah border on an exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes. The time period granted for transportation of the humanitarian assistance had expired on March 21, 2022,” said the Foreign Office.

The government of India had recently requested for extension in time period to complete the transportation process and the High Commission of India in Islamabad was informed of the decision in this regard.