ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) on Monday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the Narendra Modi government in India for the discriminatory legislation against Muslims and human rights abuses in occupied Kashmir.
Tabled by Federal Minister for Special Education Shafqat Mehmood, the resolution condemned India for passing a controversial citizenship act that grants nationality to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan prior to 2015.
The passage of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill led to violent demonstrations across India, as protesters said it would convert thousands of illegal immigrants into legal residents.
Muslims also protested against the law as it does not give them the same rights to citizenship as members of other faiths, a move critics say undermines the secular constitution. At least six people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the passage of the bill.
The enactment of the citizenship law was a key election promise of Prime Minister Modi, re-energising his nationalist Hindu support base.
Talking about the matter in the National Assembly, PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq said it was time to tell the entire world about the mindset which is “no longer confined to Kashmir but is plaguing the whole of India”. He stressed the need for a diplomatic offensive and said that Prime Minister Imran Khan should highlight the issue all over the world.
Khurram Dastagir, another PML-N MNA, said that India annexed occupied Kashmir 134 days ago and the Pakistani government did nothing practically for the people of the region. He said the government seemed to be paralysed at the diplomatic level.
“It seems that the government has accepted the annexation of Kashmir by India,” he said, adding that the people of Pakistan have not accepted the alleged move.
Dr Darshan of the PML-N said the entire Hindu community of Pakistan condemned Modi’s recent actions.
PPP leader Hina Rabbani Khar also called for convening a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the two issues.
