SOURCE: THE WEEK
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi appears to be fervently pursuing the Imran Khan government’s approach of highlighting India’s internal affairs on the global stage.
After the Kashmir issue, Ayodhya and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the mob violence in Bengaluru is Pakistan’s latest ‘weapon’. Three people were killed and around 60 policemen were injured in the riots earlier this week, which began as a protest against a Facebook post that was allegedly offensive to Muslims.
In a statement on Thursday, Qureshi claimed Muslim minorities were no more safe in India after the violence in Bengaluru.
The Express Tribune newspaper reported Qureshi “urged Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other global rights groups to take notice of” the Bengaluru incident.
Qureshi was quoted by Geo TV as saying sentiments of Muslims were hurt “yet [Bengaluru] Police resorted to arrest and wound them”.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has buried the secular state of India and instead is giving rise to a Hindu state… This is not an internal matter, it is a humanitarian issue,” declared Qureshi.
Qureshi declared the “whole Muslim Ummah must watch the social media post, which manifested the insecurity of Muslim minority in India,” The Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Qureshi also criticised the recent Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, noting a temple was being built after a mosque was demolished.
The Pakistan government had on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Indian High Commission over the derogatory Facebook post. The Pakistan Foreign Office said, “the offensive post against Islam has hurt Muslims and reflects the rising Islamophobia and targeting of the minority communities in India”.
