India on Wednesday firmly rejected Pakistan’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the flag-hoisting ceremony at the newly completed Ram temple in Ayodhya. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan had no right to comment on India’s internal matters, especially given its own treatment of minorities.
“We have seen the reported remarks and reject them with the contempt they deserve,” Jaiswal said at a press briefing. He described Pakistan as “a country with a deeply stained record of bigotry, repression and systemic mistreatment of its minorities,” adding that it “has no moral standing to lecture others.”
He said Pakistan should “look inwards and focus on its own abysmal human rights record instead of delivering hypocritical homilies.”
Pakistan had earlier expressed “deep concern” over Modi’s participation in the ceremony, calling the Ram temple’s construction at the site of the Babri Masjid a sign of pressure on religious minorities in India. Pakistan’s foreign ministry also urged the international community and the United Nations to pay attention to what it called “rising Islamophobia, hate speech and hate-motivated attacks in India.”
Islamabad asked global institutions to play “a constructive role” in protecting Islamic heritage in the region.
India dismissed those statements as politically motivated. Officials said Pakistan was attempting to divert attention from its own internal issues and its record of suppressing minorities. When asked further on the issue, Jaiswal said, “Pakistan should see what it is doing to its own minorities.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi hoisted a saffron flag on the shikhar of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, marking the formal completion of the temple’s construction.
