New Delhi: After Pakistan accused India of mistreating its religious minorities, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday dismissed the charges, saying Islamabad cannot erase its own “horrific and systemic victimisation of minorities of various faiths” by pointing fingers at New Delhi.
Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tahir Andrabi had urged the international community to take note of what he alleged were incidents “targeting religious minorities” in India, including “Christmas-related vandalism and attacks on Muslims.”
“We reject the report
ed remarks from a country whose abysmal record on this front speaks for itself. Pakistan’s horrific and systemic victimisation of minorities of various faiths is a well- established fact. No amount of finger pointing will obfuscate it,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Andrabi claimed India shielded the accused in lynching cases, citing the death of Mohammad Akhlaq during the 2015 Dadri violence, according to Pakistani news channel ARY News.
“We have seen the reported remarks and reject them with the contempt they deserve. As a country with a deeply stained record of bigotry, repression, and systemic mistreatment of its minorities, Pakistan has no moral standing to lecture others,” Jaiswal said.
Last month, MEA had slammed Pakistan for criticising the hoisting of sacred flag atop Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir.
“Rather than delivering hypocritical homilies, Pakistan would do better to turn its gaze inwards and focus on its own abysmal human rights record,”