UNITED NATIONS: Amid rising Islamophobia across the world, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday called on the UN General Assembly to declare an “International Day to Combat Islamophobia” and build a resilient coalition to fight the scourge that splits humanity.
“The one country in the world today where, the state sponsors Islamophobia, is India,” he told the 75th Session of the 193-member Assembly through video-link from Islamabad.
The prime minister said the coronavirus pandemic was an opportunity to bring humanity together, but instead it fanned nationalism, increased global tensions, and gave rise to racial and religious hatred and violence against vulnerable minorities in several places.
“These trends have also accentuated ‘Islamophobia’,” he said, pointing out that Muslims continued to be targeted with impunity in many countries.
“Our shrines are being destroyed; our Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) insulted; the Holy Quran burnt –and all this in the name of freedom of speech,” he told the world leaders.
“Incidents in Europe, including republication of blasphemous sketches by Charlie Hebdo, are recent examples. We stress that wilful provocations and incitement to hate and violence must be universally outlawed.”
The reason India was the state sponsors of Islamophobia was that the RSS ideology rules the country, the prime minister said.
“The RSS founding fathers were inspired by the Nazis and they adopted the concepts of racial purity and supremacy. While the Nazis hate was directed at the Jews, the RSS directs it towards the Muslims and to a lesser extent towards the Christians. They believe that India is exclusive for Hindus and others are not equal citizens.
“The secularism of Gandhi and Nehru has been replaced by the dream of creating a Hindu Rashtra by subjugating, even cleansing India’s 200 million Muslims and other minorities.”
“In 1992,” he said, “the RSS destroyed Babri Mosque; in 2002, some 2000 Muslims were slaughtered in Gujarat, and this was under the watch of Chief Minister Modi; and in 2007, over 50 Muslims were burnt alive by RSS arsonists aboard the Samjhota Express Train.
The prime minister added, “In Assam, around two million Muslims face the prospects of being arbitrarily stripped of their nationality through the adoption of discriminatory laws. There are reports of large concentration camps being filled with by Muslim Indian citizens.
“Muslims were falsely blamed, vilified and victimized for spreading the coronavirus. They were denied medical attention on many occasions, their businesses were boycotted. Cow vigilantes attack and kill Muslims with impunity.
“Last February, Muslims faced targeted killings, with police complicity in New Delhi. 10 mass registrations in the past have often been a precursor to genocide, e.g. the Nuremburg Laws in Germany in 1935 and then in 1982 in Myanmar. The Hindutva ideology is set to marginalize almost 300 million human beings – Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
“This is unprecedented in history and does not augur well for the future of India as we all know that marginalization of human beings leads to radicalization.”
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