India Slams UN Over International Day On Islamophobia

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What has happened?

As the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Tuesday to proclaim March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia,
India expressed concern over phobia against one religion being elevated to the level of an international day, Saying there are growing contemporary forms of religiophobia, especially anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist and anti-Sikh

The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, introduced by Pakistan’s ambassador Munir Akram under agenda item Culture of peace, to proclaim March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
The resolution, introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was adopted by consensus.
It was backed by 57 members of OIC and eight other countries, including China and Russia.

The resolution emphasises the right to freedom of religion and belief and recalls a 1981 resolution calling for “the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief”.
The resolution asks all countries, UN bodies, international and regional organisations, civil society, the private sector, and faith-based organisations
“to organise and support various high-visibility events aimed at effectively increasing awareness of all levels about curbing Islamophobia”, and to observe the new International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

The resolution was adopted three years to the day since a right-wing extremist murdered over 50 Muslims in a New Zealand terror attack on two mosques.
It means that the day will be cemented as an annual reminder of the need to combat Islamophobia.

Explaining India’s position on the resolution, TS Tirumurti, the country’s permanent representative to the UN,
Expressed deep concern at the rise in instances of discrimination, intolerance and violence against members of many religious communities in different parts of the world.
“Let me also state that we condemn all acts motivated by anti-Semitism, Christianophobia or Islamophobia. However, such phobias are not restricted to Abrahamic religions only.”

Tirumurti noted that Hinduism has more than 1.2 billion followers, Buddhism more than 535 million and Sikhism more than 30 million, and said, The time had come to acknowledge the “prevalence of religiophobia, rather than single out just one”.
He added, “It is in this context that we are concerned about elevating the phobia against one religion to the level of an international day, to the exclusion of all the others.”
“Celebration of a religion is one thing but to commemorate the combating of hatred against one religion is quite another.”
Tirumurti also argued the resolution “may well end up downplaying the seriousness of phobias against all other religions”.

“These contemporary forms of religiophobia can be witnessed in the increase in attacks on religious places of worship like gurudwaras, monasteries, temples etc
Or in spreading of hatred and disinformation against non-Abrahamic religions in many countries,” he said.
He also cited the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, “violation of gurudwara premises, massacre of Sikh pilgrims in gurudwara, attack on temples, glorification of breaking of idols in temples” and said,
These incidents “contribute to the rise of contemporary forms of religiophobia against non-Abrahamic religions”.
Tirumurti said India, as a pluralistic and democratic country that is home to almost all world religions, has always welcomed “those persecuted around the world for their faith or belief”.
He said, “They have always found in India a safe haven shorn of persecution or discrimination.
This is true whether they were Zoroastrians or Buddhists or Jews or people of any other faith.”

India hopes the resolution does not set a precedent which will divide the UN into “religious camps”, and It is important for the world body to remain above “religious matters which may seek to divide us rather than bring us together”, he said.
The representatives of France and the European Union also expressed reservations that the resolution singled out only Islam while religious intolerance is prevalent across the world.

Q) Which of the following is correct regarding ancient temples?