India on Wednesday strongly rejected Pakistan’s remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the flag ceremony at Ayodhya’s Ram temple.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Pakistan, with its “deeply stained record” on minority rights, lacks the “moral standing to lecture others.”
“We have seen the reported remarks and reject them with the contempt they deserve,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing.
“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," he said.
"Rather than delivering hypocritical homilies, Pakistan would do better to turn its gaze inwards and focus on its own abysmal human rights record,” Jaiswal added.
Islamabad had earlier criticised Modi taking part in the flag-hoisting event at the Ram temple on Tuesday, which marked the formal completion of the its construction.
Expressing “deep concern”, the Pakistan foreign ministry said that the construction of the temple at the Babri Mosque is a reflection of pressure on religious minorities in India.
In a further escalation, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the international community to “take cognisance of rising Islamophobia, hate speech and hate-motivated attacks in India” following the ceremony.
It called on global institutions, including the United Nations, to play “a constructive role” in safeguarding what it termed Islamic heritage in the region.
India has dismissed these claims as politically motivated and an attempt by Pakistan to deflect from its own domestic challenges and its treatment of minorities. India has been pointing out to Pakistan’s troubling record in treating its own minorities.
Answering another question on a related question the MEA spokesperson said that “Pakistan should see what is doing to its own minorities.”
Modi ceremonially hoisted a saffron flag on the "shikhar" of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Temple in Ayodhya on Tuesday after the completion of the temple's construction.