UNITED NATIONS, Sep 07 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN, Munir Akram, Tuesday called for confronting the fascist ideology of Hindutva, led by the RSS, the parent organization of India’s ruling BJP, that “most pervasively” purveys Xenophobia, violent nationalism and Islamophobia.
He was speaking in a High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace, convened by the President of U.N. General Assembly, on the subject: “Transformative Role of the Culture of Peace: Promoting Resilience and Inclusion in Post-Covid Recovery.
“If we all wish to promote a Culture of Peace, we must confront the culture of hate. I ask the Assembly to confront Hindutva,” the Pakistani envoy told the 193-member body.
On its part, he said that Pakistan has contributed to the objectives of a Culture of Peace, through the submission each year since 2004, along with Philippines, of the resolution on “Promotion of inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace.”
“We have also continued to work closely with the UN Alliance of Civilizations and High Representative Miguel Moratinos.”
In his remarks, Ambassador Akram also called on the General Assembly, and the UN bodies dealing with the promotion of human rights, to demand that India allow the body of “great” Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani, who passed away last week while under Indian detention, to be buried in the ‘Cemetery of Martyrs’ as he and his family desired; his funeral be held consistent with Muslim customs and traditions; and the curfew imposed on the valley be lifted to enable his family, relatives and admirers to participate in his last rites and honour his life and legacy.
Dealing with the impacts of Hindutva, the Pakistani envoy said, “India’s 200 million Muslim minority faces frequent lynching by ‘cow vigilantes’; pogroms by RSS thugs, with official complicity; discriminatory citizen laws to expel Muslims; and a concerted campaign to destroy Mosques, build temples in their place, rewrite history, and obliterate the rich Muslim heritage of India.
“Hindutva’s adherents in New Delhi are also embarked on the campaign to impose what they ominously call a ‘Final Solution’ for the Jammu and Kashmir.
“They abrogated Kashmir’s statehood; unleashed a reign of terror; abducted 13,000 Kashmiri boys and tortured many of them; killed hundreds in ‘fake encounters’; jailed all Kashmiri leaders; violently suppressed peaceful protests; imposed collective punishments, destroying entire villages and neighbourhoods; and are embarked on changing Jammu and Kashmir’s demography from a Muslim majority state to a Hindu majority territory.
Those responsible for these war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held accountable.”
“The most recent example of Indian barbarity”, Ambassador Akram said, was the treatment of mortal remains of Geelani, who was incarcerated for 50 years but never wavered from his demand for Kashmir’s freedom. Despite his advancing age and failing health, he was now allowed to seek medical treatment abroad.
“Even as his family mourned his loss, and prepared for his funeral, a heavy contingent of India’s occupation forces entered their home, and over the protests of family members, forcibly snatched Syed Geelani’s body, denied him the last rites of a Muslim funeral and buried him in a non-descript place rather than the ‘Cemetery of Martyrs’ as desired by Syed Geelani before his death.
“Geelani’s family members were charged for draping his body in the Pakistani flag – as he had wished. The Indian theft of Geelani’s body was accompanied by the imposition of a complete curfew in and the snapping of all electronic and other communications with and within the Kashmir Valley.
“This is the cowardly and criminal conduct of India’s Hindutva colonizers of Kashmir,” the Pakistani envoy added.
