Hindutva ideology in India has fuelled violence against Muslim minority: Bilawal Bhutto

New York, Sep 22 (IANS) Speaking at an event in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari claimed that the “Hindutva ideology being promoted in India fuelled violence against its Muslim minority in the country”.

He made the remarks during a high-level meeting on the effective promotion of the Declaration on Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, reports Geo News.

When he started speaking about India, Bilawal said that “unfortunately, there is a state where the minority rights are being suppressed”.

He claimed that minorities are being suppressed in this state under its policy, adding: “India was once a secular state, but now it’s becoming a Hindu-dominated country.”

“India’s Muslim minority is the largest in the world and Muslims are killed by mobs over the issue of cows,” Geo News quoted the Foreign Minister as saying.

He also stressed that the protection of rights of minorities was the “basic tenet of the protection of human rights in Pakistan”.

“Kartarpur Corridor is a reflection of our efforts for interfaith harmony and it is a corridor of hope,” Bilawal said, adding that Pakistan celebrates Minority Protection Day on August 11 every year.

The Minister made similar comments at a separate event also in New York where he said that “today, one of the worst manifestations of such Islamophobia is in Hindutva-inspired India”.

“Driven by the ideology of hate against Muslims, the (ruling) BJP-RSS regime is executing its century-old plan to obliterate India’s Islamic legacy and to transform India into an exclusive Hindu state.” – IANS