‘Repression against minorities anti-thesis of Akhand Bharat’

Islamabad: The Indian Government had crossed all limits in violating fundamental human rights, especially in case of minorities, in particular Muslims, said Lieutenant General (r) Raza Khan, former president of National Defencee University (NDU).

He was speaking at a webinar on ‘Ban culture: a way to create Akhand Bharat’ organised by Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) here Monday. Lieutenant General (r) Raza Khan observed that the plight of the Indian Muslims was a major concern in the present times and that it was imperative to chalk out distinct roles for the international community, and in particular, the OIC as the representative of the Muslim world to overcome such brazen abuse of power.

He said that Akhand Bharat was the slogan of Rashtriya Sewak Sangh which aimed at reunifying the 10 countries of subcontinent including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and even Myanmar. However, all that was happening in India, i.e., prohibiting Friday prayer, banning hijab, mob violence against minorities, was the anti-thesis of this mythology of Akhand Bharat. He added that the current demography of the Indian prisons was a narration of the plight of the minorities in India, as most of the convicted felons in the Indian prisons were either Muslims or Dalits.

He said that the human rights violations were unstoppable. the scariest among which was the systematic dilution of fundamental elements of Muslim identity. Minorities in India, particularly Muslims were strategically pushed down the economic ladder, rendering them unable to rise as equal citizens. He said that today 33% of Indian minorities including Indian Muslims and lower caste Dalits were multidimensional poor.

Despite the fact that the Indian Muslims were the third largest Muslim population, their representation in the Indian Parliament remained at an all-time low since the Partition, he added. While discussing the Citizenship Amendment Act, he said that the Act was a reflection of Nazism, controlling the award of citizenship at the government’s own whims. The behaviour that was being meted out to the Muslims in India was a clear indication of mainstream Islamophobia, he said. He added that the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A had turned the Kashmir valley into a huge prison altogether. Additionally, the attempts to alter the demography of the Kashmir valley were also a gross human rights violation.

He said that the rising Islamophobia, particularly with reference to India was discussed at lengths during the recent OIC session here in Islamabad. However, a more consolidated response to such state-sponsored Islamophobia was the need of the hour.