India on Wednesday came down heavily on Pakistan's statement in which it criticised the hoisting of the sacred flag atop Ayodhya's Ram Mandir, with External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal saying that Pakistan has no moral standing to lecture others. He specifically called out Pakistan's "deeply stained record of bigotry, repression, and systemic mistreatment of its minorities".
"We have seen the reported remarks and reject them with the contempt they deserve. As a country with a deeply stained record of bigotry, repression, and systemic mistreatment of its minorities, Pakistan has no moral standing to lecture others," Jaiswal delivered a strong rebuttal to Islamabad's stance on the religious ceremony held in Ayodhya on Tuesday.
Pakistan on Tuesday, in an official statement released by the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had sought to draw the international community's attention towards the flag-hoisting, calling it an example of "Islamophobia" and "heritage desecration", referring to the December 6, 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Pakistan also continued with its unsubstantiated rant against India, attacked the country's government, the judiciary which allowed the construction of the Ram Mandir, calling it the "Indian state's discriminatory approach towards minorities".
"Rather than delivering hypocritical homilies, Pakistan would do better to turn its gaze inwards and focus on its own abysmal human rights record," the MEA spokesperson slammed Islamabad's uninvited and unwanted opinion about the November 25 ceremony. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted a sacred saffron flag atop the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya at a grand Dhwajarohan ceremony, marking the formal completion of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple more than a year after its consecration.
Referring to the flag-hoisting ceremony on Tuesday and the temple's consecration in January 2024, Pakistan had claimed there was a pattern of pressure on religious minorities in India, and sought to draw the attention of the international community and the United Nations towards these events.
It also called on the Indian government to "uphold the rights of religious minorities". India, however, rubbished and lambasted Pakistan's statement outright, calling it a prime example of hypocrisy and bigotry.
