Pakistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday that “we cannot stand by and let another Gujarat happen (in India)” amid claims that India has created and executed a campaign of Islamophobia, vilifying Muslims.
The extremist state in India has created & executed a campaign of Islamophobia, vilifying Muslims. I have written to Sec Gen @OIC_OCI and all FMs of member states to unite in global condemnation of these inhuman attacks. We cannot stand by and let another Gujarat happen #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/ez8oOsQ7ZR
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) April 28, 2020
The infamous Gujarat riots, in which around 1,000 people died, took place in 2002 when current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was state chief.
Qureshi said that he has written to the Secretary General of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and all foreign ministers of member states to unite in a global condemnation of these “inhuman attacks”.
Pointing out that Muslims are being discriminated against in hospitals and businesses, the foreign minister of Pakistan alleged that India is in grip of Islamophobia and that hate speech is being practiced in the country.
The remark comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan compared the Narendra Modi-led government in India to the Nazis over the alleged mistreatment of Muslims in the country. The India’s Ministry of External Affairs then hit back at the allegation terming it completely “baseless” and said that by making such remarks Pakistan was trying to divert attention from the “abysmal handling of its internal affairs.”
The deliberate & violent targeting of Muslims in India by Modi Govt to divert the backlash over its COVID19 policy, which has left thousands stranded & hungry, is akin to what Nazis did to Jews in Germany. Yet more proof of the racist Hindu Supremacist ideology of Modi Govt.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 19, 2020
There have been reports in Indian media that nearly 2,000 Muslim missionaries from 41 countries participated in a gathering in Delhi in March with many later testing positive for COVID-19. The incident resulted in online and terms such as ‘Corona Jihad’.
