ISLAMABAD: As the world marks the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief today, the plight of Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and minorities in India remains dire.
A report by the Kashmir Media Service’s research section, released in observance of the day, asserts that Indian forces, including the army, paramilitary, police, and intelligence agencies, have curtailed the religious freedoms of Kashmiris. “India has stripped the oppressed people of IIOJK of all rights, including political, social, and religious freedoms,” the report states.
It highlights demographic changes in IIOJK as evidence of India targeting individuals based on their faith. The report accuses the ruling BJP of perpetuating attacks on religious minorities in India. It cites the 2002 Gujarat massacre, involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, as a clear instance of Muslim victimization.
According to the report, the RSS and BJP are escalating hate campaigns against Muslims and other religious minorities in India, contributing to a pervasive rise in Hindutva ideology and Islamophobia. “The frequency of anti-Muslim riots and vandalism of religious sites belonging to Muslims, Christians, and other minorities in regions like Manipur demonstrate an increasing intolerance under BJP’s rule,” it details.
It further notes that Hindu mobs destroyed 300 churches in Manipur, intensifying concerns of severe religious persecution catalyzed by the BJP-led government.
The report concludes by stating that hostility towards religious minorities has reached unprecedented levels in India, with the RSS-supported Modi government allegedly employing terror tactics to intimidate these groups. It warns that the BJP is advancing an agenda of ethnic cleansing through discriminatory laws such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR), and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), severely infringing upon the fundamental freedoms of religious minorities.
