Pakistan lodges strong protest over derogatory social media post against Holy Prophet (PBUH)

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned the derogatory social media post against Holy Prophet Muhammad ((PBUH) by an extremist from the majority Hindu community in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Pakistan conveyed its strong condemnation to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad over the "offensive post against Islam", what the Foreign Office spokesperson said had hurt Muslims and reflected the rising Islamophobia and targeting of the minority communities in India.

“The Indian police instead of preventing this hate crime against Muslims and Islam, used brute force, killed at least three protesters, and injured many more.

As an added injustice, the Muslim community in the area is being falsely framed for alleged vandalism and assault on police personnel,” the spokesperson said.

He said the rising incidents of religious hate crime in India were a direct and inescapable consequence of the RSS-BJP combine’s extremist ideology of ‘Hindutva’.

He said the incident had been viewed with concern and the civil society in Pakistan had called for justice for the minority Muslim community in India.

Pakistan called upon the Indian government to investigate the incident and take immediate action against the perpetrators of religious hatred.

The Indian government has also been called upon to ensure the safety, security and well-being of the minority communities, particularly Muslims, and take steps to ensure prevention of hate speech and hate crimes against Islam and protection of religious rights of Muslims.

The spokesperson also urged the international community, the United Nations and relevant international organizations to play their role against the rising tide of Islamophobia and ensure practical steps for the protection and religious rights of minorities in India.