News Desk |
On Wednesday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed his disapproval at India’s failure to mention the Muslim victims in its condemnation of the anti-Muslim terror attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Indian Foreign Ministry had shared its official statement of condemnation back on 15th March. FM Qureshi brought attention to India’s utter failure to mention the innocent Muslim worshippers, and its insensitive approach of terming mosques as a “place of worship”.
PM @narendramodi strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack at the places of worship in #Christchurch today https://t.co/6IviTxd2Pk pic.twitter.com/xCxNUpNNEL
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) March 15, 2019
The statement of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs read, “Prime minister has expressed his deep shock and sadness at the loss of scores of innocent lives in the heinous terrorist attack at the places of worship in Christchurch today.”
FM Qureshi went on to remark that if Hindus ever came under such an attack, Pakistan would stand by India rather than mincing words.
Foreign Minister Qureshi, while addressing the media during his three-day visit to Beijing, reprimanded New Delhi for not “having the courage” to refer to the victims as “Muslims” or even use the word “mosque” in its condemnation statement on an attack that claimed the lives of 50 innocent Muslim worshippers.
Needless to say, such a blatant disregard of the Muslim identity of the victims is also a manifestation of the “right-wing extremism” that provoked this heinous attack.
FM Qureshi went on to remark that if Hindus ever came under such an attack, Pakistan would stand by India rather than mincing words. He said, “If God forbid, there had been an attack on a Hindu temple, Pakistan would have stood with India.”
Read more: The battle for leadership of the Muslim world: Turkey plants its…
It is disturbing to note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Minister of Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley, among other senior leaders, have failed to condemn the attack and show their solidarity. This question was raised by several Indians in response to the tweet by the Indian MEA.
Why can’t he tweet and show his solidarity ? Very strange behaviour from a statesman of that stature ! @PMOIndia @arunjaitley we are loosing our civility every passing day ? Why not stand out and condemn it appropriately ? I don’t know maybe too stupid to understand !
— Ankur (@R1Nz20) March 16, 2019
One comment read, “Why can’t he tweet to show his solidarity? Very strange behaviour from a statesman of that stature!”
Thankful that Modiji did not use a communal word to describe the attacked sites but referred to them as "places of worship".
— Aryan Paladin 🕉 (@AryanPaladin) March 16, 2019
Another tweet expressed gratitude that Modi somehow restrained himself from painting the NZ terror attack in communal colours. The tweet said, “Thankful that Modiji did not use a communal word to describe the attacked sites but referred to them as “places of worship”.
It appears that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi really needs to contemplate and reflect on his statement, as quoted by the Indian MEA, “hatred and violence have no place in diverse and democratic societies.”
Mina Jahangir with additional input from News Desk.