Islamuddin Sajid
30 October 2021•Update: 30 October 2021
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan strongly condemned the vandalization of several mosques and properties of Muslims by radical Hindu mobs in India’s northeastern state of Tripura.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry Friday said that Indian authorities failed to protect the Muslims and accused New Delhi of not helping them despite repeated calls by the local Muslim organizations.
“It is reprehensible that the Hindutva driven BJP-RSS combine has a track record of conducting massacres and systemic human rights violations of Muslims under its watch, from Gujarat in 2002 to New Delhi in 2020,” said Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, spokesman of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
The statement also criticized India for leaving “little space for minorities and their way of life”.
“It is equally condemnable that targeted and brutal eviction of Muslims from their decades-old homes in Assam continues unabated.”
Islamabad urged the world community to stop attacks against the Muslims and their places of worship and play its role to control the “rising trend of Islamophobia in India”.
On Wednesday, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, a civil rights group, said that at least 16 mosques were vandalized and houses and shops belonging to Muslims were set ablaze over the last week in Tripura.
The group said that there were at least 27 confirmed incidents of right-wing mobs attacking mosques, houses, and individuals in Muslim areas.
“These include 16 incidents where mosques were vandalized and flags of radical Hindu, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), were forcibly hoisted on them,” M. Huzaifa from the APCR, told Anadolu Agency.
At least three mosques – Palbazar mosque in Unakoti district, Dogra Masjid in Gomati district, and Narola Tila in Vishalgarh town – were set on fire, he said.
The APCR said almost all the attacks were carried out by various right-wing groups, including the VHP, which had ostensibly gathered to protest anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh.
However, the local police said that they are protecting all mosques in the region and the situation is under control.
“On Tuesday, one mosque was vandalized and three shops and three houses belonging to the Muslim community were set ablaze after a procession by workers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) was taken out in protest of a recent incident in Bangladesh,” said Lalhminga Darlong, deputy inspector general of police.
