Islamabad:
Needling India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday alleged that the attack on students and teachers at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is “yet another reminder of growing intolerance” in the country.
Nearly 35 students were taken to hospitals on Sunday evening after a violent mob ran amok, attacking students and damaging property on the varsity campus in New Delhi.
“Chilling attack on students & teachers at #JNU yesterday is yet another reminder of growing intolerance in India. Campuses in India now face unchecked wrath of RSS mobs while the police collude with their insanity. This is what happens when you empower fascist ideology,” Qureshi tweeted.
He also said that Pakistan wants peace, stability and security in region, and it was very clear on its position.
“We stand for peace, stability & security in region. I’ve reiterated this to all stakeholders in my recent conversations. Active diplomacy to de-escalate tensions is the need of the hour. Violence must be avoided. We’ll continue with efforts,” he said.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.
Also, the Foreign Office (FO) on Monday called on the Indian government to protect its minorities from what it called “saffron terror”.
The FO remarks came a day after India on Sunday strongly condemned the “targeted killing” of a minority Sikh community member in Peshawar, an incident that took place in the backdrop of an attack on Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan.
In a statement, the FO said the BJP government was using incidents of alleged persecution of minorities in Pakistan to divert attention from the situation in “Kashmir and discrimination against minorities within India.”
“The RSS-inspired BJP government has absolutely no credentials even to pretend that it is a protector of minorities,” the statement read.
“Rather than feigning any dishonest concern for minorities elsewhere, the BJP government would do better by focusing on the ongoing human tragedy at home and protecting India’s minorities from ‘saffron terror’,” it added.
Unknown gunmen shot dead 25-year-old Sikh man, identified as Rowinder Singh of Shangla district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, weeks before his marriage in the northwestern city of Peshawar, drawing sharp condemnation from India which demanded exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the crime.
The killing of Singh came a day after a mob attacked Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Lahore where Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev was born.
The FO termed them “isolated law and order incidents” and said such incidents are part of a “smear campaign against Pakistan”.
“Pakistan completely rejects these fabrications, which will in no way shield the BJP government from opprobrium by the international community on its illegal actions” in Kashmir and the adverse fallout of the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), the statement said.
