India slams Pakistan, says 'ironic that it's even speaking of minorities' rights'

New Delhi, Sep 22: Responding to Pakistan's remark on Kashmir and minorities, India hit back saying that it is ironic that Pakistan is even speaking about the rights of minorities, when it has stopped publishing its data to hide its 'shameful' record. India's joint secretary was speaking at a high-level meeting on the rights of minorities at the United Nations on Wednesday.

India's joint secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Srinivas Gotru comments were in response to Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's remarks in which he mentioned Kashmir and minorities.

Slamming the country, Gotru said, "It is ironic that Pakistan is speaking of the rights of minorities. For a country that has even stopped publishing its data to hide its shameful record, it is amazing that they have even brought up the subject. It has a long history of having committed the gravest violations of minority rights that the world has ever seen."

He also added, "we know what Pakistan has done to its minorities. It has decimated them. Some of these minorities have become extinct in Pakistan. Even today, Pakistan continues to commit grave violations of the rights of the Sikhs, Hindus, Christiana and the Ahmadis."

Gotru said that thousands of women and children, particularly girls from minority communities, have been subjected to abductions, forced marriages and conversions in Pakistan.

It's to be recalled that recently Bhutto made remarks against India on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "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.

On Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Gotru reiterated, "The entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India, irrespective of what the representative of Pakistan believes or covets. We call on Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism so that our citizens can exercise their right to life, and liberty. We hope that they will desist from attempts to abuse and politicize such meetings."

While beginning his speech about the rights of the minorities, Gotru said, "Minorities live in every country and in every region of the world often being subject to exclusion, exploitation and discrimination Ensuring their equality, their inclusive development while preserving their distinctive identity are essential to sustainable peace, economic prosperity within a society and indeed to realising the universal value of leaving no one behind."

Gotru highlighted the minority rights in India. He said, "India is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. The Constitution of India guarantees the protection and promotion of the rights of all minority communities. It is a fundamental right given to citizens to conserve his or her distinct language, script or culture. Every minority community has the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice and provide instruction to their children in their own mother tongue," he added.