- Steps initiated for restoration of damaged building: FO.
- India distorting facts, resorting to “cheap gimmicks”: FO.
- FO calls for holding India accountable for minorities’ persecution.
Pakistan on Friday rejected India’s “false and politically motivated assertions” regarding damage to a Hindu temple in Narowal, saying the building was damaged in torrential rains.
The rebuttal comes after the Indian foreign ministry said it had noted with “deep concern” the reports about the alleged destruction of the historic Hindu temple in Adda Siraj, an area of Punjab’s Narowal district.
“We categorically reject the false and politically motivated assertions made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs regarding the Hindu temple at Adda Siraj, Narowal,” FO Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said.
According to the FO spokesperson, the temple’s structure was damaged on July 21 due to torrential rains, unlike the false propaganda being peddled by India.
“The local authorities have already surveyed the rain damage and initiated steps for the restoration of the building,” Khan said, terming it “shameful” that India was distorting facts and resorting to “cheap gimmicks”.
The FO spokesperson maintained that India’s deliberate distortion of facts cannot distract attention from its abysmal record of systematic persecution of minorities and state-sponsored attacks against their places of worship.
“The world is well aware of the weaponisation of Hindutva ideology against minorities,” he said, adding it must hold the Indian leadership accountable for the persecution of Muslim, Sikh and Christian communities.
United Nations and human rights groups say abuse of Indian minorities has risen in recent years.
They point to rising hate speech, a religion-based citizenship law, the demolition of Muslim-owned properties, the removal of Muslim-majority Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) autonomy and an anti-conversion legislation that challenges freedom of belief.
The FO’s response comes amid a wider Hindutva push targeting medieval mosques and Islamic-era monuments in India, with campaigners claiming that they were built over Hindu temples.
Such claims have gained momentum since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.
In May this year, Indian authorities imposed a ban on the slaughter of cows, calves and camels ahead of Eid ul Adha.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also ordered that Eid prayer be offered only at traditional locations and said no permission should be granted for namaz on roads under any circumstances.
