Pakistan on Sunday once again rejected a fresh attempt by India to defame the Kartarpur Corridor, now known worldwide as the Corridor of Peace, by alleging that it was being used for business meetings.
"Pakistan categorically rejects the malicious Indian propaganda regarding the alleged use of the Kartarpur Corridor for business meetings. It is obvious that this concoction is part of India’s deliberate smear campaign seeking to undermine Pakistan’s historic initiative of opening the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for the Sikh pilgrims from India and around the world," said the Foreign Office.
The Modi government was reluctant to set up the Kartarpur Corridor from the start and it was only the pressure from Sikhs worldwide and in India itself that it reluctantly allowed it to be set up. However, Indian Sikhs continue to complain that a lot of bureaucratic red tape is involved to get permission to enter the Corridor.
"There is nothing new about India’s desperate bid to malign the Corridor of Peace and divert the world’s attention away from the grave injustices being done to its own minorities, especially Muslims, who are being targeted with impunity by Hindu zealots in utter disregard of all tenets of law and justice," added the Foreign Office.
Pakistan says it accords the highest primacy to the rights of minorities. Sanctity of religious places and revered sites of every community is ensured in Pakistan. Just recently, Pakistan hosted over 2,000 Sikh pilgrims from India alone who were here to participate in the annual Baisakhi festival held from 12-21 April 2022. Elaborate arrangements were put in place to facilitate the visiting pilgrims to pay homage at their holy religious sites. “The Sikh community around the world has remained appreciative of Pakistan’s commitment to inclusivity, diversity and promotion of religious harmony,” the FO said.
Instead India was advised to desist from casting fallacious aspersions on the Kartarpur Corridor, which was a gift by the Government of Pakistan to the Sikh community, and instead focus on taking meaningful steps to effectively protect its own religious minorities and ensure the safety of their lives and places of worship.
Meanwhile, Sunday also saw Pakistan strongly condemning the unabated killing spree being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), causing martyrdom of three more Kashmiri youths in Baramullah district during the last two days. More than 580 innocent Kashmiris have so far been martyred by the Indian occupation forces since India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August, 2019.
"The growing number of extrajudicial killings in fake encounters and staged cordon-and-search operations in the IIOJ&K during the holy month of Ramazan, only highlights the ugly reality of India’s illegal occupation and the extremist anti-Muslim designs of the Hindutva inspired BJP-RSS combine in India," said the Foreign Office. The Kashmiri youth, it said, which have been a specific target of the Indian occupation forces stationed in the IIOJ&K, has however remained unfazed in its determination to thwart the Indian designs of subjugating the Kashmiris with the use of unbridled force.
"Pakistan reiterates its call for investigation of extrajudicial killings in IIOJ&K by the Commission of Inquiry as recommended by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in its Kashmir reports of 2018 and 2019,” said the FO.
Pakistan called upon the international community to play its role in ensuring a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people for durable peace and stability in South Asia.
