NEW YORK: At the United Nations, Pakistan’s Counsellor Saima Saleem delivered a firm and uncompromising response to what she described as India’s “baseless, misleading, and politically motivated allegations.”
She accused New Delhi of actively promoting cross-border violence and destabilizing peace in the region through its use of proxy groups.
Addressing the UN session, Saleem underlined that India has institutionalized the persecution of minorities, depriving them of their basic right to practice religion freely.
“Suppressing minorities has become an official state policy of the Indian government,” she declared, adding that religious freedoms in the country are under severe threat.
Recalling the horrors of the Gujarat riots, she stressed that the international community still remembers those events as a dark chapter marked by brutality and mass atrocities.
She further warned that India’s political climate has normalized Islamophobia, while sections of its mainstream media treat hatred against Muslims as a matter of pride.
Saleem also pointed to disturbing developments on the ground, noting that even expressions of devotion such as saying “I love Muhammad ﷺ” have effectively been criminalized in India. She cited the recent incident in Bareilly where police launched an aggressive crackdown on Muslims as evidence of this growing intolerance.
Her strong remarks came against the backdrop of the UN General Assembly session, where Pakistan’s leadership, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, also raised the issue of terrorism being sponsored in Pakistan and reaffirmed Islamabad’s solidarity with the Palestinian people.
