ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has used the platform of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to reiterate its condemnation of India’s consecration of a grand temple to the Hindu god Lord Ram on a site believed to be his birthplace but where a 16th century mosque was demolished in 1992 in the Indian city of Ayodhya, state-run APP news agency reported on Thursday.
For decades, the temple site was bitterly contested by Hindus and minority Muslims, leading to nationwide riots in 1992 that killed 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, after a Hindu mob destroyed a 16th-century mosque that had stood there.
India’s Hindus say the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram, and was holy to them long before Muslim Mughals razed a temple at the spot to build the Babri Masjid in 1528. In 2019, the Supreme Court handed over the land to Hindus and ordered allotment of a separate plot to Muslims where the construction of a new mosque is yet to begin.
On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a grand consecration of the Ram Temple.
“Reiterating its condemnation of the recent consecration of ‘Ram Temple’ on the demolished Babri Mosque’s site, Pakistan has urged the top official for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) to play his part for the protection of Islamic sites in India,” APP reported on Thursday, quoting Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Munir Akram as telling an OIC Ambassadorial meeting on Wednesday.
“The Pakistani envoy shared with OIC colleagues a letter he addressed to the UNAOC High Representative, Miguel Angel Moratinos, in which he said that the event in Ayodhya marked a ‘disturbing rise in Hindu majoritarianism in India’,” APP added.
“This trend poses a significant threat to the social, economic, and political well-being of Indian Muslims, as well as to the harmony and peace in the region,” the letter, quoted by APP, said.
“Regrettably, this is not an isolated incident, as other mosques, including the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Eidgah Mosque in Mathura, face similar threats of desecration and destruction.”
Munir called for the UNAOC’s “urgent intervention” for the protection of religious sites in India.
“Under your esteemed leadership, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations must play a crucial role in safeguarding Islamic heritage sites and securing the rights of religious and cultural minorities in India,” Munir said.
“The Secretary-General has entrusted you to implement the action plan for the protection of religious sites. We urge you to expedite efforts to implement the action plan and ensure the safeguarding of religious sites in India.”
According to APP, other OIC ambassadors acknowledged the importance of the issue and brought up attacks on mosques in some European countries. The Palestinian Permanent Representative to the UN, Riyadh Mansour, drew attention to the Israeli desecration of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the demolition of other mosques and churches in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The meeting concluded with a decision to put the issue on the agenda of the next OIC ambassadorial meeting.
Reacting to Monday’s consecration, the Pakistani foreign office had said a temple built on the site of a demolished mosque would remain “a blot on the face of India’s democracy for the times to come.”
“The developments of the last 31 years, leading to today’s consecration ceremony, are indicative of growing majoritarianism in India,” the Pakistani foreign office statement said, condemning Monday’s consecration. “These constitute an important facet of the ongoing efforts for social, economic and political marginalization of the Indian Muslims.”
Nearly 8,000 people were invited to Monday’s ceremony, while more than 10,000 police personnel guarded the city of 3 million. Security was also stepped up nationwide, especially in cities and towns that have suffered past Hindu-Muslim tension and strife.
The temple opened to the public on Tuesday this week, and its management expects 100,000 visitors each day for the next few months.
Pakistan raises issue of Ram temple consecration at OIC ambassadors’ meeting
https://arab.news/rv2kt
Pakistan raises issue of Ram temple consecration at OIC ambassadors’ meeting
- Pakistan writes letter to UN Alliance of Civilizations High Representative Miguel Angel Moratinos
- India’s Hindus say site was birthplace of Lord Ram long before Muslims build the Babri Masjid in 1528
Tens of thousands flee northwest Pakistan over fears of military operation
- More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled remote Tirah region bordering Afghanistan
- Government says no military operation underway or planned in Tirah, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
BARA, Pakistan: More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled a remote region in northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan over uncertainty of a military operation against the Pakistani Taliban, residents and officials said Tuesday.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif has denied the claim by residents and provincial authorities. He said no military operation was underway or planned in Tirah, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, he said harsh weather, rather than military action, was driving the migration. His comments came weeks after residents started fleeing Tirah over fears of a possible army operation.
The exodus began a month after mosque loudspeakers urged residents to leave Tirah by Jan. 23 to avoid potential fighting. Last August, Pakistan launched a military operation against Pakistani Taliban in the Bajau r district in the northwest, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
Shafi Jan, a spokesman for the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, posted on X that he held the federal government responsible for the ordeal of the displaced people, saying authorities in Islamabad were retracting their earlier position about the military operation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Suhail Afridi, whose party is led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has criticized the military and said his government will not allow troops to launch a full-scale operation in Tirah.
The military says it will continue intelligence-based operations against Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Though a separate group, it has been emboldened since the Afghan
Taliban returned to power in 2021. Authorities say many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan and that hundreds of them have crossed into Tirah, often using residents as human shields when militant hideouts are raided.
Caught in the middle are the residents of Tirah, who continued arriving in Bara.
So far, local authorities have registered roughly 10,000 families — about 70,000 people — from Tirah, which has a population of around 150,000, said Talha Rafiq Alam, a local government administrator overseeing the relief effort. He said the registration deadline, originally set for Jan. 23, has been extended to Feb. 5.
He said the displaced would be able to return once the law-and-order situation improves.
Among those arriving in Bara and nearby towns was 35-year-old Zar Badshah, who said he left with his wife and four children after the authorities ordered an evacuation. He said mortar shells had exploded in villages in recent weeks, killing a woman and wounding four children in his village. “Community elders told us to leave. They instructed us to evacuate to safer places,” he said.
At a government school in Bara, hundreds of displaced lined up outside registration centers, waiting to be enrolled to receive government assistance. Many complained the process was slow.
Narendra Singh, 27, said members of the minority Sikh community also fled Tirah after food shortages worsened, exacerbated by heavy snowfall and uncertain security.
“There was a severe shortage of food items in Tirah, and that forced us to leave,” he said.
Tirah gained national attention in September, after an explosion at a compound allegedly used to store bomb-making materials killed at least 24 people. Authorities said most of the dead were militants linked to the TTP, though local leaders disputed that account, saying civilians, including women and children, were among the dead.
