Pakistan on Saturday condemned the reported profiling of mosques and mosque management committees in India-occupied Kashmir, saying the “blatant intrusion into religious affairs constitutes a grave violation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion and belief”.
The FO’s statement comes after police in the occupied valley distributed forms to “collect” financial and personal details of mosques and seminaries, including mosque leaders and members of management committees. A report by The Hindustan Times, quoting local residents and Kashmiri leaders, said.
The action “reflects yet another coercive attempt to intimidate and marginalise the Muslim population of the occupied territory,” said the FO.
The forms included sections for seminary teachers and mosque leaders to provide details of their “Aadhaar cards, bank accounts, property ownership, social media handles, passport, ration card, driving licence, SIM cards and mobile phone model along with the IMEI,” according to the report published in Indian media.
It also sought details of the “religious sect” of the mosques.
A lawmaker from Srinagar called it “an infringement of the religious freedom guaranteed under the Indian Constitution,” saying the move aimed to “control religion and mosques,” the report said.
The FO statement said: “The forcible collection of personal details, photographs and sectarian affiliations of religious functionaries amounts to systematic harassment, aimed at instilling fear among worshippers and obstructing the free exercise of their faith.”
“These actions form part of a broader pattern of institutionalised Islamophobia driven by the Hindutva ideology of the occupying Indian government,” said the statement, adding the “selective targeting of mosques and Muslim clergy lays bare the discriminatory and communal character of these policies”.
The FO maintained that the “people of Jammu and Kashmir possess an inalienable right to practice their religion without fear, coercion or discrimination”.
“Pakistan will continue to stand in solidarity with them and will persist in raising its voice against all forms of religious persecution and intolerance targeting Kashmiris,” said the statement.
In November, United Nations experts sounded the alarm over “serious human rights violations” in Indian-occupied Kashmir by the Indian government, issuing the warning in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.
