Hitting out at Pakistan, India has said the country foments a culture of violence at home and across its borders and its deplorable human rights records and discriminatory treatment of religious minorities is a cause of persistent concern for the global community.
“Unfortunately, we have witnessed another attempt by the delegation of Pakistan to exploit a UN platform for hate speech against India,” Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, Paulomi Tripathi, said on Thursday at the high-level forum on the ‘Culture of Peace’ at the 74th United Nations General Assembly.
“This happens at a time when Pakistan continues to foment a culture of violence at home and across its borders,” Ms. Tripathi said.
India’s strong rebuke came as Pakistan’s UN envoy Munir Akram made references to Jammu and Kashmir, the Babri Masjid demolition and construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya during his remarks to the virtual forum on ‘Culture of Peace’.
“Pakistan’s deplorable human rights records and discriminatory treatment of religious and ethnic minorities is a cause of persistent concern for the international community,” Ms. Tripathi said.
“Blasphemy laws are used against religious minorities such as Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, to violate their human rights and dignity,” she said, adding that women and girls remain particularly vulnerable in Pakistan as they are abducted, raped, forcefully converted and married to their violators.
The pandemic has only aggravated the situation, she said.
“Talk of ‘culture of peace’ from the delegation of Pakistan is nothing but a decoy to divert attention from their own shameful records. Before making absurd allegations against India, where equal rights of people of all faiths are guaranteed by the constitution, the delegation of Pakistan must do itself a favour of looking at their own system and records of protecting minorities,” Ms. Tripathi said.
The Indian diplomat emphasised that a culture of peace does not merely signify absence of war but embodies a predisposition towards resolving differences through dialogue and understanding.
