The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday summoned a senior Indian diplomat and conveyed Pakistan’s categorical rejection of the mischievous spin given by India to an isolated incident at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said, “It was conveyed to the Indian diplomat that the incident was swiftly addressed and clarified”.
The statement came in reference to a photoshoot of a model in her individual act at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib. The FO said the Government of Pakistan accorded “highest primacy to the rights of the minorities”. “Sanctity of religious places and revered sites of every community is ensured in Pakistan,” it said. The FO said the Indian diplomat was instead told to urge the Government of India to investigate the incidents of gross and systematic persecution of minorities, which continue with impunity and state complicity.
“Given its systematic marginalization and brutalization of minorities, India has no locus standi to even feign concern for minorities elsewhere,” it said. The FO said the Indian authorities must focus on ensuring effective protection of their own minorities and places of worship from repeated instances of desecration, hate crimes and mob lynching. Earlier this week, the Punjab police launched an investigation after an Indian Sikh journalist, Ravinder Singh, criticised the model’s “bareheaded” photos at the Gurdwara.
The blogger’s photos were shared on the Instagram page of a clothing brand named Mannat Clothing, but were removed after the criticism. In an Instagram post, Mannat clarified that “the pictures posted on our accounts are NOT part of any [photo]shoot done by Mannat Clothing. These pictures were provided to us by a third party (blogger) in which they were wearing our dress.”
