Bizzare, baseless: India rejects Imran’s allegations of discrimination against Muslims

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday trashed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s comments alleging targeting of Muslims in the country in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the “bizarre comments” by the Pakistani leadership was an attempt to shift focus from the “abysmal handling” of that country’s internal affairs.

In a tweet, Khan accused the Indian government of deliberately targeting the Muslim community against the backdrop of the coronavirus crisis.

“Instead of concentrating on fighting COVID-19, they are making baseless allegations against their neighbours,” the MEA spokesperson said.

He was responding to media queries on Khan’s remarks.

“On the subject of minorities, they (Pakistani leadership) would be well advised to address the concerns of their own dwindling minority communities, which have been truly discriminated against,” Srivastava said.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday urged India to take “urgent steps” to protect the rights of its minority Muslim community and stop the incidents of “Islamophobia” in the country.

The OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission in a tweet also said the Indian media was negatively profiling the Muslims and subjecting them to discrimination.

“OIC-IPHRC urges the #Indian Govt to take urgent steps to stop the growing tide of #Islamophobia in India and protect the rights of its” Muslim minority, it tweeted.

India has previously hit out at the 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, saying bodies like OIC should not make irresponsible statements.