Pakistan will not stand by and let another Gujarat happen: Qureshi

Pakistan will not stay silent as Muslims in India have “their nationalities stripped, their livelihoods robbed, their demography changed and their future insecure,” said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets he reiterated Islamabad’s commitment to highlighting human rights violations against Muslims by the Indian government on international forums such as the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The foreign minister said that both forums have repeatedly been approached to “condemn Modi’s Hindutva supremacist ideology” that has led to violence and instability in the region.

Qureshi highlighted Islamophobia in India and referred to the 2002 Gujarat riots – one of the worst incidents of communal violence in India, which resulted in the deaths of nearly a 1,000 Muslims (unofficial reports point to an even higher death toll) – that took place under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat chief minister.

The minister also acknowledged the support extended by the OIC for collective action on the matter at the UN.