The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has called on the Indian Government to take urgent steps to stop the growing tide of Islamophobia in the country.
The organization also called on the Indian government to
to undertake measures to protect Muslim minorities who are being negatively profiled and facing discrimination and violence amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
The General Secretariat of OIC expressed deep concern following recent media accounts of rising anti-Muslim sentiments and Islamophobia within political and media circles and on mainstream and social media platforms, where Indian Muslim minority was blamed of spreading coronavirus in the country.
“We urge the Indian govt to take urgent steps to stop the growing tide of islamophobia in India and protect the rights of its persecuted Muslim minority as per its obligations under international Human Rights law,” said a tweet issued by OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission.
On the same day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a statement, asserting that, “Unity and brotherhood must be the response to the coronavirus, which does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking.”
However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the statement. Last week it had reacted sharply to two similar statements on religious stigmatisation of minorities in India by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
“As if its peremptory commentary on religious freedom in India was not enough, the USCIRF is now spreading misguided reports on the professional medical protocols followed to deal with spread of COVID-19 in India,” the MEA spokesperson said.
The USCIRF also reacted to reports, which the government denied, that COVID-19 patients were religiously segregated at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India.
It also held an expert hearing on Religious Freedom on South Asia, organised by the Hindus for Human Rights, Indian-American Muslim Council and International Christian Concern, ahead of its annual USCIRF report release on April 28, where India has been categorised as a tier 2 country of particular concern.
The OIC General Secretariat also expressed its rejection of the targeting of Muslims anywhere, pointing out that the current COVID-19 world situation is such that it requires greater efforts, more active cooperation and solidarity mechanisms worldwide, and stronger mutual aid among all citizens of the same country.
