Pakistan condemns Indian move to exclude Muslims from new nationality law

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned the Indian move to exclude Muslims from a new law that offers Indian nationality to refugees from South Asian countries.

“The latest legislation by Indian Lok Sabha that offers Indian nationality to the nationals of Pakistan and two other South Asian countries except Muslims is premisedon a falsehood and is in complete violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international Covenants on elimination of all forms of discrimination based on religion or belief,” the commission said in a statement on Monday.

The Lok Sabha legislation is also in complete contravention of various bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India particularly the one concerning security and rights of minorities in the respective countries, it said.

“The latest legislation is another major step towards the realization of the concept of ‘Hindu Rashtra,’idealized and relentlessly pursued by the right-wing Hindu leaders for several decades. It is driven by a toxic mix of an extremist ‘Hindutva’ ideology and hegemonic ambitions in the region. It is also a clear manifestation of interference in the internal matters of neighboring countries based on religion, which we reject completely.”

Equally reprehensible are India’s pretentions of casting itself as homeland for minorities allegedly persecuted in the neighboring countries.

The massacre of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat, the Samjhauta Express carnage, innumerable lynchings by cow-vigilantes, repugnant schemes like Ghar wapsi and ‘Love Jihad’, and violence against Christians, Sikhs, Jains and even low-caste Dalits are the hallmarks of the new India ruled by the proponents of the extremist Hindu ideology.

The continuing persecution of 8 million unarmed and innocent Kashmiris, collectively incarcerated and penalized by 900,000 Indian occupation forces, goes to further illustrate this blatantly extremist mindset.

This Indian legislation has also, once again, exposed the hollowness of the claims to ‘secularism’ and ‘democracy’. Pushed by the majoritarian agenda, it has revealed to the world the RSS-BJP exclusivist mentality and the true extent of their animus against the Muslims.

“We condemn the legislation as regressive and discriminatory, which is in violation of all relevant international conventions and norms, and a glaring attempt by India to interfere in the neighboring countries with malafide intent.”