Pakistan’s latest salvo on India’s minority policies has been met with a resounding dismissal from New Delhi. MEA’s Randhir Jaiswal, in his weekly briefing, advised Islamabad to confront its own legacy of minority atrocities rather than hurl unsubstantiated claims.
The trigger was Tahir Andrabi’s remarks on Delhi’s anti-encroachment drive at Turkman Gate’s Faiz-e-Ilahi Masjid vicinity. Executed per High Court orders by MCD, the operation cleared illegal builds without targeting worship sites—a fact Pakistan conveniently ignored.
India has consistently rebuffed such interference. Just last month, MEA rejected Pakistan’s feigned concern over minority violence, exposing the subcontinent neighbor’s grim reality of faith-based persecution. ‘Pakistan’s systematic oppression of religious minorities is notorious,’ an MEA release stated, rendering its critiques hollow.
Hard data backs this. The International Center for Peace Studies, referencing Lahore’s Center for Social Justice, reported 344 blasphemy charges in 2024. From 2021-2024, 421 underage minority females (71% minors, chiefly Hindus and Christians) suffered forced religious conversions.
These abuses, intertwined with Islam’s politicization and anti-India fervor, expose Pakistan’s fractured identity. Jaiswal’s retort reinforces India’s stance: domestic reforms precede diplomatic moralizing. As bilateral ties remain strained, this episode highlights the need for introspection over accusation in South Asian discourse.