Pakistan will not stay silent on persecution of Muslims in India: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday said Pakistan would not stay silent, allowing the fascist Modi government to round up Muslims to be beaten and killed.

“Pakistan will not stay silent, allowing the fascist Modi government to round up Muslims to be beaten and killed. To have their nationalities stripped, their livelihoods robbed, their demography changed and their future insecure,” he said on Twitter.

The foreign minister’s statement came after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said countering anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia was his “top priority” and he “fully agrees” with the assessment that it could pose a threat to international peace and security.

The UN chief gave the statement recently at the virtual meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states at the UN in response to the comments from Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Munir Akram, who drew his attention to the rising cases of anti-Muslim violence and Islamophobia in India and urged him to adopt a more focused and consistent system-wise approach to fully tackle the menace.

Pakistan has consistently appealed to @UN & @OIC_OCI to condemn Modi’s Hindutva supremacist ideology with relentless Islamophobia & violence/regional instability perpetuated. We also welcome @antonioguterres agreement on need to counter Islamophobia & OIC-IPHRC’s earlier censure.

— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) May 26, 2020

Qureshi said Pakistan had consistently appealed to United Nations (UN) and the OIC to condemn Modi’s Hindutva supremacist ideology with relentless Islamophobia and violence and regional instability perpetuated.

The foreign minister welcomed the UN chief’s agreement on need to counter Islamophobia and OIC-IPHRC’s earlier censure.

“We will not stand by and let another Gujarat happen (riots took place in Indian Gujarat killing hundreds of Muslims in 2002). To counter rising cases of anti-Muslim violence & Islamophobia, Pakistan has been supported by the (OIC) to initiate working group with the (OIC Permanent Observer Mission to the UN) for collective action.”