Pakistan condemns targeted attacks against Muslims in India

Pakistan strongly condemned a recent campaign of violence against Muslims by Hindu mobs in various Indian states, saying that it has revealed "the gravity of the state-sanctioned hysteria and hatred in India against Muslims".

On Saturday, violence erupted between Muslims and Hindus during the procession in Jahangirpuri, a suburb of New Delhi, during a procession to mark the Hindu festival of Hanuman Jayanti, local police said without giving more details.

In a press release issued on Monday, the Foreign Office (FO) said an attempt was made to hoist a saffron flag at Jahangirpuri’s Jamia Masjid, where Muslims were waiting to break their fasts.

According to the release, "provocative music" was played and weapons were brandished.

It went on to say the incident brought to mind "the horrific memories of Delhi pogrom of February 2020 which was aimed to discriminate, dispossess and dehumanize the Muslim community."

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The statement said that the demolition of houses, businesses and shops belonging to Muslims and the vandalization of mosques by local authorities in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat "reveal the deep penetration of Hindutva ideology into the fabric of Indian state and society".

"Pakistan notes with deep regret the rapidly increasing trend in India of using religious processions of the Hindu community to fan communal hatred and instigate anti-Muslim violence.

"Even more alarming is the fact that the local authorities that were evidently complicit in the fear-mongering have launched a concerted campaign against the Muslims on the pretext of crackdown against alleged rioters."

The FO called on the Indian government to investigate the incidents to prevent such incidents from recurring in future.

It urged the international community, particularly the United Nations and international human rights and humanitarian organizations to hold India accountable "for its gross and widespread human rights violations against minorities, particularly Muslims."

Earlier the same day, protesters in New Delhi shouted slogans against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, saying Muslims were violently targeted by authorities in the aftermath of Hindu-Muslim clashes in parts of three states ruled by Modi's Hindu nationalist party, as per Reuters.

Local authorities tore down the homes and shops of suspected Muslim rioters in central Madhya Pradesh state in the aftermath of violence that broke out during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami, according to a police official who did not want to be named.