On Monday, Pakistan lodged a strong protest with India’s chargé d'affaires to Islamabad over the calls for violence against minority communities made during a three-day event in Haridwar.
Several videos recorded at the Dharma Sansad event held from December 17 to 19 caused upheaval as participants were seen calling for violence against minorities in India. The event was organised by Yati Narasinghanand Giri of the Juna Akhada, an organisation that has already been under the scanner for Islamophobic activities.
In his speech, Narsinghanand said, “Economic boycott won’t work. Hindu groups need to update themselves. Swords look good on stage only. This battle will be won by those with better weapons.” Another leader said, “There is no more time; the case now is that either you prepare to die now or get ready to kill. There’s no other way. This is why, like in Myanmar, the police here, the politicians here, the army and every Hindu must pick up weapons, and we will have to conduct this cleanliness drive (safai abhiyan). There is no solution apart from this.”
Following monumental pressure from Indian and indeed international commentators, an FIR was filed on Friday against several individuals in connection with the event for “promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion.” However, no arrests have been made yet.
According to a press release by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, Suresh Kumar, the chargé d’affaires of the Indian High Commission, was summoned to convey Islamabad’s “serious concerns” about “the widely reported open calls by Hindutva proponents for carrying out genocide of Indian Muslims.” The statement also said that it is “highly reprehensible” that those who made the calls for “ethnic cleansing” have not been condemned by the Indian government. Subsequently, it called on Indian authorities to launch an investigation into the incident and urged them to take measures to ensure such incidents never occur again.
The Pakistani press release argued that such “toxic narratives” have “become a norm” under Modi, lamenting the “worsening trend of Islamophobia” and the rising incidents of violence against Muslims. The Pakistani side also called on international organisations, including the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Countries, to take “immediate measures” to save the Indian Muslim community from an “impending genocide.”
Meanwhile, the speeches made at the event also attracted criticism from several opposition leaders in India, who referred to it as a “hate speech conclave” and underscored the need to take strict action against those involved. Additionally, former Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash expressed concern that the incident could result in a “communal bloodbath.” Given that India already faces the significant threats of Pakistan and China, he said that such “domestic turmoil” must be avoided at all costs.
This is the latest incident of religious intolerance in India. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, there have been increasing concerns about religious freedoms and pluralism. In its 2020 Report on International Religious Freedom, the United States expressed concern about violence and discrimination against religious minorities in India. Furthermore, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), for the second year in a row, urged the State Department to designate India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ (CPC). In its 2021 report, the USCIRF said that conditions for religious freedoms in India “continued their negative trajectory” in 2020 and blamed the BJP-led government for promoting Hindu nationalist policies that have resulted in “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan, too, has reported the targeting of the minority Hindu community within its own borders, including attacks on temples and on individuals. In fact, the USCIRF’s 2021 report also listed Pakistan as a CPC.