The Asian Age

India rejects Pakistan’s Ayodhya ruling remark VERDICT WON’T CAUSE TENSION IN BANGLADESH, ASSURES FM

- VINEETA PANDEY

India has reacted sharply to Pakistan’s statement on the Ayodhya verdict.

“We reject the unwarrante­d and gratuitous comments made by Pakistan on the judgement of the Supreme Court of India on a civil matter that is completely internal to India. It pertains to the rule of law and equal respect for all faiths, concepts that are not part of their ethos. So, while Pakistan’s lack of comprehens­ion is not surprising, their pathologic­al compulsion to comment on our internal affairs with the obvious intent of spreading hatred is condemnabl­e” ministry of external affairs spokespers­on Raveesh Kumar said on Saturday minutes after Pakistan foreign ministry issued a statement on the Ayodhya judgment.

Dhaka: Bangladesh will study the Indian Supreme Court’s historic verdict in the Ayodhya case, Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said on Saturday and expressed confidence that it won’t cause any tension in his country.

“We won’t be in any tension regarding this (Ayodhya land dispute verdict). We will expect

Pakistan on Saturday said the decision of Indian Supreme Court has “failed to uphold the demands of justice’.

“This decision has shredded the veneer of socalled secularism of India by making clear that minorities in India are no longer safe; they have to that peace will prevail in India also,” Momen told reporters on the sidelines of a sports event here. He said Bangladesh’s heritage of interfaith harmony would help keep peace in the country.

“All of us — Muslims, Christians, Hindus and (Buddhists) are living in harmony,” he said about Bangladesh, a Muslimmajo­rity nation. fear for their beliefs and for their places of worship. A process of re-writing history is underway in India in order to recast it in the image of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ in pursuance of the Hindutva ideology. It is also fast affecting India’s major institutio­ns. The rising tide of extremist ideology in India, based on the belief of Hindu supremacy and exclusion, is a threat to regional peace and stability, “Pakistan statement said.

It addee that the Indian government should ensure the protection of Muslims lives, rights and properties and avoid being “again a silent spectator of Muslims becoming the victims of Hindu extremists and zealots.”

Pakistan has also asked internatio­nal community, the United Nations and other human rights organizati­ons to restrain India “from its pursuit of an extremist ideology and to ensure equal rights and protection of the minorities in India.’ Earlier, Pak Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi questioned the timing of the Ayodhya verdict that came on the same day when Karatarpur Corridor was to be inaugurate­d.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India