Religious, Political Leaders Urge G20 Countries To Boycott Meeting In India: Ashrafi

Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi on Thursday said leaders of various schools of thought, political and religious parties of Pakistan had appealed the G20 countries' political and religious leaders not to participate in the upcoming meeting being held in India

LAHORE (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th May, 2023 ):Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi on Thursday said leaders of various schools of thought, political and religious parties of Pakistan had appealed the G20 countries' political and religious leaders not to participate in the upcoming meeting being held in India.

Addressing a joint press conference here at Lahore Press Club, Ashrafi who is also Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East, urged G20 countries not to be part of any activity in Illegal Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

He said according to the United Nations' (UN) resolutions and international law, Occupied Kashmir was a disputed territory and any such meeting or activity would be a violation of the UN resolutions and international law.

The G-20 countries participation in the meeting would support the Indian atrocities being faced by the innocent people of Occupied Kashmir, he added.

He said Pakistan had a clear-cut stand on the issue of Occupied Kashmir as announced by the Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir in the Kakul Academy in the recent days, which was in accordance with the international law and UN resolutions and Pakistan could never deviate from this position at all costs.

Ashrafi made it clear that Foreign Affairs Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's participation in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was not related to the relationship between Pakistan and India.

The restoration of Pakistan and India relations would be possible through Kashmir route, he added.

He said they should force Indian government to stop its barbaric acts immediately because the minority communities were not safe in India.

He mentioned that Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, people of scheduled caste and other religions and their worship places were constantly being targeted.

More than 200 churches and more than 500 mosques, and a number of Gurdwaras had been demolished while in Ramazan, the mosques had been sealed and Muslims were prevented from their fundamental right to worship, he added.

Ashrafi said the same was done with the Christian community on Easter, Christmas and New Year and the entire process had the full patronage of the Indian government as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was carrying out terrorism under the auspices of it.

He said the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and other global organizations had been already told about the situation in India that the minorities were being treated worst and, in these circumstances, the meeting of G20 countries in India and some of its activities in Occupied Kashmir could not be acceptable anyway.

Pakistan had always talked about solving the Kashmir problem according to the UN resolutions, he added.

He said the world should immediately react to India's plans to hold the G20 and R20 meetings in the Occupied Kashmir adding that due to the worst human rights situation and atrocities on minorities and Kashmiris, the international human rights organizations, the UN, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should also take an immediate action against it.

Ashrafi appealed to all countries including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China, Russia, America, Canada and others among the G20 countries, to consider their request keeping in view the current situation of India's aggressive actions on minorities and Kashmiris and conspiracies to spread unrest in the region.

He also urged the OIC, Muslim World League (OIC), Grand Mufti of Russia, Islamic Conference of Iran, Nahdlatul�Ulama Indonesia, Pope Francis, Bishop of Canterbury, United Kingdom, and the leadership of all religions and sects to also take this matter into account and play their full role and express solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris and minorities and declare non-involvement in all kinds of activities in India, thwarting its nefarious intentions.

He said India wanted to cover up its atrocities on minorities and Kashmiris by inviting R20 and religious leaders of other countries to India and take them to Occupied Kashmir under the title of 'interfaith dialogue and harmony' and wanted to create differences among the UN, OIC, MWL, and Muslim world on the issues of Kashmir.

He said a delegation of the leaders of all religions and schools of thought of Pakistan would also meet with the ambassadors of G20 countries in Pakistan and convey their concerns to the heads of these countries by writing letters from the platform of Pakistan Ulema Council and International Interfaith Harmony Council.

Ashrafi informed that an All Parties Kashmir Conference would also be held on May 19, in Islamabad under the Pakistan Ulema Council.

Meanwhile, he, in a message in the Arabic language at the press conference, urged the OIC and the leadership of Saudi Arabia, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to play their role in the current situation and draw the attention of the Islamic and international world to the practical solution of the Kashmir and Palestine issues.

In response to a question, Ashrafi said Palestine and Kashmir were the problems of the Muslim Ummah and expressed the hope for their earlier peacefully redressal.

On the current situation of Sudan, he said religious scholars of all schools of thought had appealed to all active parties in Sudan to call for a ceasefire and resolve the issues through negotiations.

During the press conference, Ashrafi was accompanied with Allama Syed Ziaullah Shah Bukhari, Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi, Maulana Muhammad Khan Laghari, Allama Syed Muhammad Hussain Akbar, Allama Arif Wahidi, Maulana Muhammad Aslam Siddiqui, Pastor Emmanuel KhoKhar, Maulana Asadullah Farooq, Allama Zubair Abid, Mufti Falak Sher, Maulana Nauman Hasher, Maulana Muhammad Shafi Qasmi, Maulana Muhammad Ashfaq Pitafi, Maulana Tahir Aqeel Awan, Qari Muhammad Aslam Qadri, Maulana Shams-ul-Haq Nawaz, Qari Mubashir Rahimi, and Maulana Abdul Ghaffar Farooqui.