ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the Indian Muslims to stand up for the protection of their fundamental rights.
In a statement, the foreign minister strongly condemned the banning of Hijab at educational institutions in Karnataka state. He said the persecution campaign will not stop if the Muslims remained silent.
He said the flag bearers of human rights should take notice of it and speak for the rights of Muslim girl students who are being deprived of their fundamental right of education.
Voicing concerns over the maltreatment of minorities in India, Qureshi said Pakistan is hosting 48th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers and will discuss the issues faced by the Muslim Ummah including Palestine and Kashmir disputes as well as Islamophobia.
Earlier Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that an Indian Muslim girl who was harassed over wearing hijab while going to her school has exposed Indian politics.
The minister was responding to an incident in India’s Karnataka state where a Muslim girl was chased by Hindu extemists wearing saffron scarfs and responded by chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Great).
Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain osaid Indian society was declining with super speed under the leadership of Narendra Modi.
In a message on Twitter, Fawad Chaudhry termed these incidents “terrifying” and added that it was due to “unstable leadership” in India. “Wearing Hijab is a personal choice just as any other dress, citizens must be given free choice,” he tweeted.
It is pertinent to mention here that a Hijab-wearing girl student was heckled by RSS goons in saffron shawls at a Karnataka college in India. As she parked her scooter, the saffron scarf group shouted at her and tried to surround her, but she remained unafraid and continued walking towards the college building.
