Shah Mehmood Qureshi slams BJP for marginalising Muslim minority

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has slammed the BJP, the ruling Indian party, for targeting its Muslims minority by framing multiple legislations and placing restrictions on their religious freedom, which is a sheer violation of human rights.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the Urs of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya here on Friday, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is also the caretaker of the shrine, said that the Muslims of India were compelled to live under particular ideology of Hindutva and frequently subjected to violent attacks by the rightwing Hindu nationalists.

He expressed regret that a large number of Indian devotees, especially from Rajasthan, were restricted to come to Pakistan for attending the Urs. He prayed for the liberation of Indian Occupied Kashmir. He said that Kashmiris were passing through the worst phase of their lives and facing brutal kind of human rights violation at hands of the Indian army. He prayed for the continuity of the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan as it was widely linked to stability of the entire region. The foreign minister urged the people to maintain solidarity among their ranks.

Auqaf Minister Saeedul Hassan and scholar Mazhar Saeed Kazmi also spoke on the occasion while MPA Javed Akhtar Ansari, MNA Amir Dogar, Punjab Parliamentary Secretary Nadeem Qureshi and a large number of notables attended the closing ceremony of the Urs.

Meanwhile, the three-day Urs concluded amid tight security here. The city district administration declared a local holiday on the last day of the Urs.

The Multan Waste Management Company had launched the special cleanliness drive across the shrine. The MWMC sprayed water across Ghanta Ghar, Water Works Road, Hussain Agahi and Dolat Gate Chowk. Multan SSP Investigations Rab Nawaz monitored the security arrangements while heavy contingents of police were deployed across the shrine to avoid any untoward incident.

‘Opposition’s APC a failed show’: Minority representative and Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights Mahindarpal Singh said that the opposition’s APC was a failed show. Talking to journalists here on Friday, he said that there was no unity among the opposition parties in the All Parties Conference. He alleged that the opposition parties want derail democracy. The opposition parties APC had proved that the PM narrative was true.

Youth found dead: Police on Friday found the dead body of a youth on the rooftop of his shop here. Reportedly, the police found the beheaded body of Naeem Ahmed in mysterious circumstances. The police said that Naeem was a worker in a Tandoor. The police have registered a case.