India on Wednesday issued a sharp response to Pakistan’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisting a saffron flag at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.Reported by NDTV.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed Islamabad’s comments, saying, “We have seen the reported remarks and reject them with the contempt they deserve.
As a country with a deeply stained record of bigotry, repression, and systemic mistreatment of its minorities, Pakistan has no moral standing to lecture others.
Rather than delivering hypocritical homilies, Pakistan would do better to turn its gaze inwards and focus on its own abysmal human rights record.”
Pakistan had objected to the hoisting of the saffron flag, calling it an attempt to target minority communities in India and erase Muslim heritage. Its remarks referenced the Ram Temple’s location on the site where the 16th-century Babri Masjid once stood.
The Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, by a right-wing mob. The legal dispute that followed for decades was settled in 2019, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Hindu plaintiffs.
A year later, Prime Minister Modi performed the foundation-stone laying ceremony for the new temple. Four years after that, he presided over its consecration.
On Tuesday, Modi hoisted a 22-foot saffron flag at the temple and led rituals conducted by 108 priests under the guidance of scholar Ganeshwar Shastri.
Addressing the gathering, he said a “500-year-old resolve” had been fulfilled. “Ayodhya is witnessing another epochal event in its history… The country and globe are immersed in Ram,” he said.NDTV
The flag, a right-angled triangular banner bearing the symbol of the Sun, signifies eternal energy, divine radiance, enlightenment, virtue, and other attributes associated with Lord Ram.
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