India on Monday dismissed Pakistan’s allegations over the treatment of minorities in India, saying Islamabad’s own record on minority rights is deeply flawed. New Delhi said Pakistan’s long history of discrimination and violence against religious minorities undermines its claims.
India on Monday strongly rejected remarks made by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on alleged incidents involving minorities in India, saying Islamabad’s own record on minority rights “speaks for itself”.
Responding to media queries on comments by Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi firmly dismissed the allegations, describing them as coming from a country with an abysmal and well-documented human rights record.
Jaiswal said Pakistan’s treatment of religious minorities has been a long-standing and serious concern, adding that attempts to divert attention through baseless accusations would not alter ground realities.
“We reject the reported remarks from a country whose abysmal record on this front speaks for itself. Pakistan’s horrific and systemic victimisation of minorities of various faiths is a well-established fact. No amount of finger-pointing will obfuscate it,” he said.
Pakistan has a long history of violence and discrimination against religious minorities, marked by mob attacks, riots, legal marginalisation and forced conversions over decades.
The Ahmadi community has faced sustained state-backed and societal persecution for years, while Christians have repeatedly been targeted in communal violence. In the 2009 Gojra riots in Punjab, Muslim mobs attacked Christian neighbourhoods, killing eight people and injuring several others.
Hindu places of worship have also been attacked during communal flare-ups, including the 2020 assault on a Hindu temple in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
India has consistently maintained that Pakistan must first address its own record of minority persecution instead of making unfounded allegations against others.
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