India criticized Pakistan for its crimes against its minorities, saying that a nation that has made an unrivaled contribution to the globalization of terrorism can not be expected to teach the world about democracy and human rights.
It is ironic that Pakistan, a country whose foundation was built on communal ideologies, speaks of communal disharmony and religious intolerance, said Seema Pujani, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India to the UN, during the General Debate at the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.
“A nation whose contribution to the internationalization of terrorism is unsurpassed,” she continued, “does not need to be teaching the world lessons on democracy and human rights.”
In exercising its “right to reply” in response to the statement made by Pakistan under the agenda item, the Indian diplomat stated that Pakistan’s systematic persecution of its minorities, including Shias, Ahmadiyas, Ismailis, and Hazaras, who are regularly the targets of sectarian violence and systemic discrimination, is due to this country’s obsession with puritanism.
She emphasized that “forced disappearances, state violence, and forced mass displacements, harassments, extrajudicial killings, army operations, torture, kill and dump camps, detention centers, and military camps are rampant in Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” were appropriate examples of Pakistan’s “burgeoning policy of religious intolerance and hatred.”
She said that “nobody knows the fate of the missing thousands of Balochs and Pashtuns to date” and criticized Pakistan for kidnapping thousands of Balochs and Pashtuns.
Pakistan has repeatedly fallen short of the international call to shut down the terror factory there, which produces terrorists who are in charge of violating the most fundamental human right—the right to life—for people in our region and throughout the globe.
She went on to say that Pakistan is a “victim of its official initiatives to cultivate terrorist groups” and that the threat posed to the nations in the area by Pakistan’s support for terrorism is real.
“As an epicenter of terrorism, Pakistan pose a threat to the security of countries in the region and beyond even as terrorists thrive in Pakistan and roam its streets with impunity.”
She said, “We expect nothing better from a Pakistani delegation that harbours a deep sense of insecurity and orchestrated hatred for India, our secular credentials, and the values that we stand for.”
However, despite its desperate efforts, she noted, “the world can see through its deceit and double-speak. It is time to hold Pakistan to account and not let them abuse UN platforms for spreading disinformation.”
