State of Muslims in India alarming: Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri

Canberra: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Australia Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has said that The Washington Post’s opinion page on the state of Muslims in India was alarming.

“The World must take immediate notice of the “calls for Muslim genocide in India. The Washington Post’s Opinion of today on the state of Muslims in India is alarming. The World must take immediate notice of the “calls for Muslim genocide” in India,” he said in a social media statement on Thursday.

The opinion article in The Washington Post referred to the Dharma Sansad (Hindu convention), attended by members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.

Videos of the packed event have been circulating on social media. Attendees made pledges to turn India into a Hindu nation. Unsurprisingly, the calls for violence and extermination have been met with silence by Modi and others — a silence that translates as an endorsement.

The Indian police are supposed to be investigating but have been very slow to act – since they know full well these leaders have the protection of the ruling political class.

“In fact, these Hindu leaders have now been emboldened to form a paramilitary force of monks who they claim will lead an armed fight against the 220 million Muslim population in India,” read the article.

During the “Summit for Democracy” hosted earlier this month by President Joe Biden, Modi claimed to be a champion of free speech, rule of law and a secular and pluralistic ethos, but the world is seeing how he and his party are willing to rely on threats, dog whistles, intimidation and violence to consolidate control, added the article.

“Modi has cultivated this type of hate for decades. We know what’s happening in India now,” it said.