Pakistan urges world to take cognisance of growing Islamophobia in India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly condemned the sacrilegious remarks against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) made by another official of the ruling BJP in India and urged the international community to take urgent cognisance of the aggravating situation of Islamophobia in India.

“Pakistan condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the highly provocative and sacrilegious remarks made against the Holy Prophet (PBUH), by Raja Singh, a BJP official and a member of the state legislative assembly of the Indian state of Telangana,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said.

This is the second time in the last three months that a senior BJP leader has made disrespectful comments against our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

“These highly derogatory remarks have gravely hurt the feelings of the people of Pakistan and billions of Muslims around the world. The token and perfunctory disciplinary action taken by the BJP against the said official cannot assuage the pain and anguish caused to the Muslims of India and around the world,” he said.

He added that it is highly reprehensible that Singh was released on bail within hours of arrest and was welcomed by BJP zealots.

Despite global outrage and denunciation of an earlier similar and equally pernicious act, the spokesperson added that the current incident once again highlights the present Indian regime’s obsessively spiteful demeanour towards Muslims and the worrying trajectory of Islamophobia in India.

“The fact is that India is nothing more than an undeclared ‘Hindu Rashtra’ where Muslims are routinely denigrated, dispossessed and marginalized and their religious beliefs are trampled under majoritarian hegemonism,” he added.

He said that the deafening silence of the top BJP leadership on the abhorrent incident manifestly reflects their approval and full support to the radical Hindu zealots within and beyond the BJP.

Moreover, he added that the extension of full state protection to the former BJP spokesperson, despite her highly condemnable remarks against the dignity of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), is reflective of the impunity being enjoyed by those attacking Islam in India.

“Pakistan demands the Indian government to take immediate and decisive action against the BJP members habitually involved in attacking Islam and targeting the dignity of beloved Prophet (PBUH),” he said.

He further stated that Pakistan also calls on the international community to take urgent cognisance of the aggravating situation of Islamophobia in India and hold the current BJP government to account for its overt espousal of an anti-Muslim and anti-Islam agenda.

Indian police had on Tuesday detained BJP leader T Raja Singh, a lawmaker in the southern state of Telangana after Muslim groups demanded his arrest for his sacrilegious comments about the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Indian media reported that although the BJP suspended Raja Singh, he got a hero’s welcome at his office in Goshamal after his release on bail.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022