India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for denying religious rights of its minority community – in response to the criticism by the government of the neighbouring country about the launch of the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
New Delhi rejected Pakistan Government’s critical remarks about the launch of the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, underlining that it was an internal matter of India.
“We have seen the press statement by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on a matter internal to India,” Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi. “It should desist from interfering in India’s affairs and refrain from communal incitement”.
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself participated in the ceremony to mark the beginning of works to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Pakistan Government on Wednesday said that the “flawed judgement” of the Supreme Court of India in the case related to Ram-Janmabhoomi-Babri-Masjid dispute had paved the way for “construction of the temple”. It also said that the verdict had reflected not only the “preponderance of faith over justice”, but also “the growing majoritarianism in India, where minorities, particularly Muslims and their places of worship, are increasingly under attack.”
New Delhi turned the table on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government in Islamabad on Thursday.
"While this is not a surprising stance from a nation that practices cross border terrorism and denies its own minorities their religious rights, such comments are nevertheless deeply regrettable,” said the MEA spokesperson.