India slammed Pakistan at the United Nations over its treatment of religious minorities, accusing Islamabad of failing to protect vulnerable communities while attempting to lecture New Delhi on religious freedom, burial rights and the treatment of minorities.
Delivering India’s statement during an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief on funeral rights in exceptional circumstances, First Secretary of India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Bhavika Mangalanandan, questioned the report’s approach to religious discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic and its advocacy for the funeral rights of terrorists.
Mangalanandan said the report appeared to attribute discriminatory practices and shortcomings during the pandemic primarily to countries in the Global South while overlooking similar tragedies in developed nations.
“As per the report, all discrimination and wrong practices during COVID-19 supposedly took place only in the Global South. What benefit does a report derive by not mentioning similar tragic situations in the developed world?” she asked.
She cautioned against politicising human suffering and said reports on religious freedom should address violations impartially rather than selectively highlighting incidents for political purposes.
“Deriving political mileage out of people’s pain and loss should not be a topic that SRs should base their relevance on,” Mangalanandan said.
Questioning the report’s position on the funeral rights of terrorists, the Indian diplomat argued that the rights of perpetrators should not overshadow the rights of victims whose lives are lost in terrorist attacks.
“A terrorist not only kills innocent people, but damages the psyche of a nation. It’s a prize that the fervent advocacy for the rights of terrorists, who violate the most sacred right of humans, the right to life, does not similarly extend to the victims of terrorism,” she said.
Aiming at Pakistan’s record during the 1999 Kargil conflict, Mangalanandan said Islamabad’s position on religious freedom and burial rights was ironic given its treatment of its own soldiers killed in combat.
“It is deeply ironic that a state that did not even accept the bodies of its own soldiers who were killed in combat in 1999 in Kargil, unabashedly speaks with fervour on faith, religious freedom and burials,” she said.
“Let me remind them, it was the Indian Army that buried a number of Pakistani soldiers with military honours and in accordance with Islamic rites,” she added.
Mangalanandan also urged Pakistan to focus on developments in areas of Jammu and Kashmir under its occupation rather than commenting on the Indian Union Territory.
“Pakistan’s deep obsession with what is happening in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir should be actually directed at the developments that are underway in the parts of Jammu and Kashmir under its illegal occupation, such as Rawalakot,” she said.
Highlighting concerns over the treatment of minorities in Pakistan, the Indian diplomat said their numbers were shrinking, and their rights continued to be violated.
“In Pakistan, the number of minorities is shrinking, and their rights are regularly abused. A state that cannot ensure the safety of its own minorities has no standing to lecture India,” Mangalanandan said.
Her remarks come amid renewed concerns over religious discrimination and alleged forced conversions in Pakistan.
According to The Express Tribune, participants at an interfaith dialogue in Hyderabad recently raised concerns over the abduction of Hindu girls, forced religious conversions and marriages, and the ineffective implementation of laws intended to protect religious minorities in Sindh.
The event, organised by the Christian Study Circle, brought together political representatives, religious figures, lawyers and social activists, who called for coordinated efforts to address religious extremism and discrimination.
Former Member of the National Assembly Neelam Kumari alleged that Hindu girls continued to face abductions and forced conversions. She also highlighted the limited impact of existing legal safeguards because of poor implementation.
Separately, experts cited by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that coercion and inadequate legal protections were enabling forced conversions through marriage, particularly affecting Hindu and Christian communities.
The experts stressed that conversion must be voluntary and that child marriage undermines consent under international law. They also highlighted the vulnerability of adolescent girls in Sindh, where poverty and marginalisation can expose victims to abuse, psychological trauma and social stigma.
