Status of minorities: Pakistan condemns Indian distortions

ISLAMABAD: As protests continue all over India against the discriminatory legislation , the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, with police patrolling, buses and police outpost torched and streets filled with tear gas, the Modi government instead turned to Pakistan and criticized it for persecution of its minorities.“Pakistan condemns the distortion of facts by the BJP government and leadership to justify the discriminatory legislation like Citizenship (Amendment) Act. This attempt, however, is not surprising in view of the smear campaign against Pakistan, being waged by the Indian government, based on falsehoods and aimed at misleading its own people as well as the international community,” responded the Foreign Office on Wednesday night. It warned that India should instead focus on the CAB as the world would hold India to account and expect it to fulfil its responsibilities under international law.The BJP leadership has claimed that population of religious minorities in Pakistan has declined from 23% in 1947 to 3.7% in 2011.“Pakistan categorically rejects, once again, the Indian government and senior BJP leadership’s baseless allegations of persecution of minorities in Pakistan which are factually incorrect,” said the Foreign Office explaining in detail the exact position of minorities.The statement said that while using the 1941 census data, this Indian falsehood deliberately and mischievously omits references to two major subsequent developments: i.e. mass migration during the Partition in 1947 and separation of East Pakistan (today’s Bangladesh) in 1971. Both these developments had an impact on the percentage of the minority population in Pakistan. “In actual fact, the percentage of minorities in Pakistan (formerly West Pakistan) has increased over the past decades. This is borne out conclusively by the available census data in Pakistan,” it added.According to the first census in Pakistan (1951), the total population of minorities in West Pakistan (today’s Pakistan) was 3.12%, which increased up to 3.72% by 1998. Subsequent censuses held in Pakistan also reflect an overall increase in the share of minorities: 2.96% in second census (1961); 3.25% in third census (1972); 3.33% in fourth census (1981); and 3.72% in fifth census (1998). The 1998 census data further show that the Hindu population of Pakistan increased from around 1.5% (in 1951) to nearly 2% in 1998. “The Indian government’s claims are also an attempt to cover up its systematic efforts to marginalise and disenfranchise India’s religious and social minorities, particularly Muslims. India’s pretentions of casting itself as a ‘haven’ for minorities are completely devoid of any credibility,” said the Foreign Office. It warned that the rising wave of Hindutva under the BJP government has led to rapid political, economic and social victimisation of Muslims and other religious and social minorities, including Dalits. “The continued incarceration and persecution of 8 million unarmed and innocent Kashmiris in IOK is further manifestation of this blatantly extremist mindset posing a serious threat to regional security,” added the statement.

from The News International - National https://ift.tt/2S2Jn9H