Will OIC, the organization of Muslim countries, go against India?

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the new citizenship law of India is anti-Muslim and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should raise its voice effectively. OIC is an organization of Islamic countries and it is dominated by Saudi Arabia. READ MORE

Addressing a press conference in Multan, Pakistan, Qureshi said that the OIC should effectively oppose human rights violations and citizenship amendment law in Kashmir.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister said that he has spoken to other Islamic countries regarding these matters and has proposed a meeting of foreign ministers of the OIC member countries. Qureshi said that he has received a positive response in this matter.

Radio Pakistan has reported in its report on Sunday that the OIC has decided to hold a meeting on human rights violations and citizenship amendment law in India-administered Kashmir. It is being said that such a meeting will be held in Islamabad in April next year. READ MORE

The Pakistani Foreign Minister claimed in this press conference that India has been clearly divided in secularism and the ideology of Hindutva during the reign of Narendra Modi.

He said, “India’s minority and educated Hindu population are against the anti-Muslim citizenship amendment law.” Since the enactment of this law on December 11, 25 people have died during protests in India. Critics of this law say that it discriminates against Muslims. International newspapers around the world have slammed this law.

Qureshi said, “Chief Ministers of at least five states of India has refused to implement this law.” I have also written several letters to the UN Security Council regarding Kashmir.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud visited Pakistan last week. According to the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune, in this tour, it has been agreed that the OIC will meet the foreign ministers of member countries on Kashmir and the disputed citizenship amendment law.

There has been talking of tension in Pakistan and Saudi relations for the past few weeks as Saudi stopped Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan from attending the Kuala Lumpur Summit held in Malaysia on 19–20 December.

Only after this, the Saudi Foreign Minister visited Pakistan. Pakistan defended the decision not to attend the Kuala Lumpur Summit, saying that it wants to build bridges in the Islamic world and not intends to escalate the conflict.

Recently, the OIC had issued a statement regarding Babri Masjid, Citizenship Amendment Act and Kashmir. In this statement, the OIC said, “We are closely watching the recent developments in India. Many things have happened that have affected the minority. We have concerns about citizenship rights and the Babri Masjid case. We reiterate again that the safety of Muslims and their holy place in India should be ensured.

The OIC had said that according to the principles and obligations of the United Nations, minorities should be protected without any discrimination. The OIC said that if these principles and obligations are neglected, the security and stability of the entire area will be severely affected.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is also trying to garner support globally on the Kashmir issue. On Saturday, Imran Khan said, “India’s lobby in America is stronger than in Pakistan.” Due to India’s strong lobbying, Pakistan’s side is always suppressed and the result is that in the US policies, India overshadows us.

When India ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the OIC was almost silent. Saudi Arabia and its allies dominate the OIC. Saudi also did not support Pakistan in the removal of Article 370 and the United Arab Emirates called it an internal matter of India.

In March this year, the UAE invited the then Foreign Minister of India Sushma Swaraj to the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the OIC. Pakistan had raised a strong objection regarding this. After this, India ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, then the OIC did not criticize India. However, Turkey and Malaysia openly criticized India in this matter.

It is common thinking among the policymakers of Pakistan that the Saudi-led OIC did not support India at all against Kashmir. On the other hand, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia want to directly challenge the OIC that it has failed to understand and give a platform to the Islamic world sentiment.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia wants to maintain political and diplomatic influence in the Muslim world through the OIC. If the efforts of Malaysia, Turkey and Iran are successful, the relevance of OIC will be seriously challenged in the coming months. It is being said that Malaysia, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan were also going to discuss Jammu and Kashmir at this summit.

After the special status of Malaysia and Turkish Kashmir was abolished, he also spoke openly against India in the General Assembly of the United Nations. It is being said within Pakistan about Saudi that he has his own interests with India, so he is not speaking in Kashmir.

On 14 August, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, while addressing the assembly in Muzaffarabad of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said that the world’s one and a half billion Muslims are united on Kashmir but unfortunately the ruler is silent.

Imran Khan on Kashmir is constantly appealing to the Muslim countries to mobilize, but in the meantime, Mukesh Ambani had announced that Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco is going to make the biggest investment in India so far.

It is a Saudi state-owned company and is controlled by King Salman. This announcement was completely contrary to Imran Khan’s desire.

There is not only protest in India regarding the citizenship amendment law, but international reactions are also coming on it.

Organization of Islamic countries Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also issued a statement on this. In a statement issued by OIC general secretary Yusuf bin Ahmed bin Abdul Rahman, he said that he is keeping an eye on the recent developments in India.

OIC has 60 Muslim majority countries. In its statement, this Islamic organization has said, “We are closely watching the recent developments in India. Many things have happened that have affected the minority. We have concerns about citizenship rights and the Babri Masjid case. We reiterate again that the safety of Muslims and their holy place in India should be ensured.

The OIC has said that according to the principles and obligations of the United Nations, minorities should be protected without any discrimination. The OIC said that if these principles and obligations are neglected, the security and stability of the entire area will be severely affected.

Originally published at https://www.mubahisa.in.