Islamabad:
Pakistan expressed a deep concern for the growing number of Islamophobic incidents throughout India on Saturday and warned that the deliberate incitement of religious hatred for political or ideological ends violates the international obligations of human rights of India.
In response to media consultations, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shafqat Ali Khan, in a statement, said that Pakistan strongly condemned the guidance of Muslims through hate discourse, discriminatory policies and acts of violence, was carried out with the complicity or silence of the Indian authorities.
“Pakistan asks the Indian government to defend the rights and security of all its citizens, regardless of their faith,” said the spokesman, warning that the deliberate incitement of religious hatred for political or ideological purposes was violating the international obligations of the human rights of India.
Khan added that such actions, at a time when restriction and reconciliation are more necessary, the perspectives of community harmony and regional stability undermine.
The statement occurs amid high tensions between the two neighbors of nuclear weapons after the accusations of New Delhi, level without evidence, which links Islamabad with Pahalgam’s attack in Iiojk. The Pakistani government has strongly rejected accusations.
Human Rights Organizations, including the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), have registered at least 21 incidents of anti-Muslim violence in India in the days after attack. These include physical assaults on Muslims from Kashmir, hate speeches in public manifestations and reported calling to the expulsion of Muslim students from shelters.
The situation has been further inflamed by the emergence of incendiary music aligned with the Hindutva ideology. The songs widely disseminated through platforms such as YouTube and WhatsApp have been accused of inciting hatred against Muslims. One of those songs, Pehle Dharam Pocha (“asked about religion first.” He has obtained more than 140,000 visits in less than a week.
Other tracks such as Ab Ek Nahi Flee Toh Kat Jaaoge (“If you don’t go now you will be sacrificed”) and Jaago Hindu Jago (“Wake up, Hindus”) have asked Hindus to identify “traitors within the country”, a widely seen phrase seen as a reference stunned to Muslims.
Parallel to the online hatred campaign, Gujarat authorities demolished around 2,000 huts, which the authorities said they were illegally occupied by undocumented migrants from Bangladesh. Activists, however, argue that demolitions are part of a broader pattern of systemic discrimination aimed at portraying Indian Muslims as “strangers.”
