Imran Khan warns over targetting of minorities

Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday warned that anyone targeting minorities in the country would be dealt with strictly, as he condemned the ongoing violence in India. At least 20 people have been killed since Sunday in violence in Northeast Delhi, triggered after clashes between pro and anti-protestors over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). "I want to warn our people that anyone in Pakistan targeting our non-Muslim citizens or their places of worship will be dealt with strictly. Our minorities are equal citizens of this country," he said.'

Khan also condemned the violence in India and said the world community "must act" now. "Now 200 million Muslims in India are being targeted. The world community must act now," he tweeted. "Whenever a racist ideology based on hatred takes over, it leads to bloodshed," he said. Khan also referred to his address to the UN General Assembly last year in which he warned the international community against ignoring the situation in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last. India has defended its move on Kashmir in August, saying the special status provisions only gave rise to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its "internal matter".

New Delhi has also asked Islamabad to accept the reality and stop its anti-India rhetoric. The Indian Parliament had passed the CAA last year, resulting in a series of protests across the country. According to the CAA, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 following religious persecution there will get Indian citizenship. The Indian government has been emphasising that the new law will not deny citizenship rights, but has been brought to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries and give them citizenship.

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