New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday slammed remarks by Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Ram Navami violence in India. Responding to media queries on the subject, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi condemned the statement by Islamic nation grouping describing it as “communal mindset and anti-India”.
"We strongly condemn the statement issued by the OIC Secretariat today regarding India. This is one more example of their communal mindset and anti-India agenda. OIC only does its reputation damage by being consistently manipulated by anti-India forces,” Bagchi said in his statement.
Violent clashes erupted during Ram Navami festivities in various parts of the country with Bihar and Bengal most affected states apart from incidents of violence in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Nalanda and Sasaram districts in Bihar and Hooghly and Howrah in Bengal saw a series of violent clashes.
In a statement on Tuesday, the General Secretariat of the OIC said it has “followed with deep concern the acts of violence and vandalism targeting Muslim community in several states in India during the Ram Navami processions, including the burning of a madrasa and its library by an extremist Hindu mob in Bihar Sharif on 31 March 2023.”
“The OIC General Secretariat denounces such provocative acts of violence and vandalism, which are a vivid manifestation of mounting Islamophobia and systemic targeting of the Muslim community in India," it added.
The OIC General Secretariat called upon the Indian authorities "to take firm actions against the instigators and perpetrators of such acts and to ensure the safety, security, rights, and dignity of the Muslim community in the country.”