New Delhi: After India summoned the Iranian ambassador over remarks of the country’s foreign minister on the Delhi riots, the country’s supreme leader Ayotallah Khamenei said that India has to confront “extremist Hindus and their parties” to prevent its isolation “from the world of Islam”.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Turkish ambassador earlier this week to strongly object to the statements made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday. India also hit out at the UK junior foreign minister Nigel Adams for making similar comments that it deemed “irresponsible”.
As part of the diplomatic fallout, the Iranian ambassador Ali Chegeni had also been called to South Block after foreign minister Javed Zarif had called on the Indian government to “not let senseless thuggery prevail” after deploring “organised violence against Indian Muslims”.
The MEA spokesperson had said on March 3 that Zarif’s “selective and tendentious characterisation of recent events in Delhi are not acceptable”. “We do not expect such comments from a country like Iran,” he added.
On Thursday evening, the Iranian supreme leader tweeted, “The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam”.
The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam.#IndianMuslimslnDanger
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 5, 2020
Last week, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had condemned the Delhi riots and mentioned that the destruction of property had chiefly targeted Muslims. MEA spokesperson urged “bodies like the OIC” not to make “irresponsible statements” at this “sensitive time”.
The Turkish president had said in a speech in Ankara that India had become a country where “massacres of Muslims” are widespread and perpetrated by Hindus.
“As far as comments by the Turkish President are concerned, they are factually inaccurate and are driven by his political agenda. We do not expect such irresponsible statements from a Head of State. On 3 March, we made a strong demarche on the matter with the Turkish Ambassador in Delhi,” Kumar told reporters on Thursday.
He also expressed objection over statements made by UK minister of Asia, Nigel Adams during a discussion on the Delhi violence in the UK parliament on March 3.
Adams had said that the events in Delhi were “very concerning” and that death of “one protestor is one too many”.
“We urge restraint from all parties and trust that the Indian government will address the concerns of people of all religions in India. We also condemn any incidents of violence, persecution or targeting of people based on religion or belief, wherever it happens in the world,” he said.
During the discussion, most of the MPs had been highly critical about the Indian government’s response and allegations of negligence by police. “I assure the House that we have made it clear that those incidents must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently,” said Adams.
Two days later, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the situation in Delhi was fast returning to normal. He noted that the law enforcement agencies have restored law and order and the prime minister had appealed for peace and brotherhood. The PM had issued an appeal on February 26, while the violence in north-east Delhi had begun on the night of February 23.
“At this sensitive time, we would urge people not to make any irresponsible comments and not to be influenced by selective and unsubstantiated narrative on the matter,” said Kumar on Thursday.
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The UK had previously expressed concern about the potential negative impact of the Citizenship Amendment Act to India at least twice in the last one month.
According to Adams, UK minister for South Asia, Lord Tariq Ahmed had informed a senior member of India’s ministry of external affairs of these concerns on February 25.
Earlier, on February 7, British high commission officials had raised concern about the police response to the protests with the state government of Uttar Pradesh on February 7.
“Our former high commissioner in New Delhi, Sir Dominic Asquith, also raised the issue with the Government of India last month, as did Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials with the Indian high commission in London,” said the British minister.