India and Pakistan don't miss any chances to hit out at each other for either country's acts of omission and commission with strong statements, but this time Pakistan took it a level higher by summoning the seniormost Indian diplomat at the High Commission in Islamabad and asked him to convey their “serious concerns” over hate speeches targeting Muslims at a Hindu politico-religious congregation in the pilgrim town of Haridwar and calling for violence and assassination and against them, the Indian media said.  

In an official statement, the Pakistan ministry said Monday: “Today, the Indian Charge d’ Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad and asked to convey the Government of Pakistan’s serious concerns to the Government of India over the widely reported open calls by Hindutva proponents for carrying out genocide of Indian Muslims.”

India’s charge d’affaires M Suresh Kumar was summoned by the Pakistani officials on Monday afternoon and the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said it was “impressed upon” the Indian Government that it was “highly reprehensible” that those who called for ethnic cleansing at the event have “neither expressed any regret nor the Indian government has condemned or taken any action against them so far”.

The statement also said it was conveyed to the Indian side that the reported hate speeches have been viewed with “grave concern by civil society and cross-section of the people of Pakistan and around the world”.

Claiming that a “toxic narrative against minorities, particularly Muslims…has become a norm”, Pakistan said it expects India to investigate these hate speeches and take measures to stop such incidents from recurring in the future.

While critical statements by foreign ministries are common, the summoning of Indian diplomats about incidents related to minorities in India is rare. In fact, it is usually India that has in the past issued several critical statements on atrocities against Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan, and summoned Pakistan’s diplomats — most recently in August to protest the attack on a Hindu temple in Rahim Yar Khan region of rural Punjab in Pakistan, The Indian Express said. 

At the Haridwar event, which was held from December 17 to 19, the controversial Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Dasna temple in Ghaziabad who is facing several criminal charges in Uttar Pradesh, called for a “war against Muslims” and urged “Hindus to take up weapons” to ensure a “Muslim didn’t become the Prime Minister in 2029.”

Following nationwide outrage, several Hindu religious leaders have been indicted in connection with the hate speeches by the local police on charges of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language. But there has been no condemnation so far of these actions and utterances by the Modi government or the state government of Uttarakhand, which is ruled by the BJP as well. 
  
(SAM)