UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s readiness to have an impartial inquiry on the treatment of its minorities was reaffirmed last night [Oct 1] in the General Assembly by Sardar Abdur Rashid, Leader of the Pakistan delegation.

In a hard-hitting reply, covering Kashmir, Ta­­shkent Declaration, Indian Muslims and Pak­is­tani minorities, to the Indian Foreign Minister’s statement on Tuesday, Sardar Rashid said that earlier this year Pakistan had given complete freedom to the Indian High Commissioner to tour East Pakistan while India rejected the Pakistan High Commissioner’s request for permission to visit the riot-torn areas in India. “Is this not an indication about who has something to hide and who has not?” asked Sardar Rashid.

He added that in the last 10 years, 86,000 Hindu emigrants had returned and resettled in Pakistan. “Would they have returned if there had been persecution in Pakistan and if they had not been disillusioned in India?”

Sardar Rashid, commenting on the Indian observation that they do not mention the India-Pakistan question during the UN general debate, remarked, “Of course, it does not do so for the simple reason that it would want the world to forget the problem. He added, “Can we bury it in silence?”

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2020