India in no position to champion minority rights: FO

Pakistan said Saturday that India is in no position to champion minority rights “as it remains a serial violator of those very rights”.

On Friday, Minister for External Affairs (MEA) S Jaishankar said India is closely monitoring the incidents of violence against minorities in Pakistan, as per the New Indian Express.

“Pakistan is a country where human rights abuses, persecution of minorities, and systematic erosion of democratic values are state policies which brazenly harbour UN sanctioned terrorists,” the minister added.

Pakistan urges India to ensure protection of minorities

In a statement issued today, Foreign Office (FO) said that while state institutions in Pakistan actively work to safeguard minorities as a matter of policy, in stark contrast, incidents targeting minorities in India “frequently occur with the tacit approval—or even complicity—of elements within the ruling dispensation”.

The press release further said that the systematic promotion of hatred, discrimination, and violence against minorities in India is well-documented.

“From the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to the bulldozing of homes; from the 2002 Gujarat massacre to the 2020 Delhi pogrom; from the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 to the consecration of a temple on its ruins in 2024; from cow vigilantism and mob lynchings to attacks on mosques and shrines—India’s record is marred by egregious and systemic violations of minority rights, particularly those of Muslims,” it added.

The foreign ministry called on India to address its own failures rather than feigning concern for minorities elsewhere.

“It must take concrete steps to ensure the safety, protection, and well-being of minorities—including Muslims—and safeguard their places of worship, cultural heritage, and fundamental rights,” FO said.

On March 27, a US panel on religious freedom said the treatment of minorities in India is deteriorating and it recommended sanctions be imposed on India’s external spy agency over its alleged involvement in plots to assassinate Sikh separatists.

Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities” during last year’s election campaign, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report.