ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned India over what it described as the profiling of mosques and their management committees in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), calling the move a “blatant intrusion into religious affairs”.
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In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) said the measures reflected “yet another coercive attempt to intimidate and marginalise the Muslim population” of the occupied territory.
“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,” the FO said.
The statement follows recent revelations by a US-based research organisation highlighting the deteriorating situation of minorities in India. According to the India Hate Lab, hate speech against minorities, including Muslims and Christians, increased by 13% in 2025, with the majority of incidents recorded in states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The FO said India’s latest actions were part of a broader pattern of “institutionalised Islamophobia driven by the Hindutva ideology of the occupying Indian government”.
“The selective targeting of mosques and Muslim clergy lays bare the discriminatory and communal character of these policies,” it added.
Islamabad reiterated that the people of IIOJK have an inalienable right to practise their religion freely, without fear, coercion or discrimination. The Foreign Office reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with the Kashmiri people and said it would continue to raise its voice against all forms of religious persecution and intolerance targeting Kashmiris.
International rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly warned that abuses against minorities in India have increased since Prime Minister Modi took office in 2014.
Since then, the Indian government has introduced a series of controversial measures, including a religion-based citizenship law, anti-conversion legislation, the 2019 revocation of IIOJK’s special status, and the demolition of properties owned by Muslims.
Discriminatory treatment has not been limited to Muslims. During recent Christmas celebrations, violent mobs vandalised decorations and installations in several parts of India. In Chhattisgarh, a mob armed with wooden sticks damaged Christmas displays ahead of the Christian festival.
In another incident, members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad Bajrang Dal vandalised a school during Christmas preparations in Assam’s Nalbari district. The group also torched festival items and staged protests against Christmas celebrations in the area.
