Over 200 million Muslims lives in risk, UN needs to take notice of a looming genocide of Muslims in India.

By Shahid Shah 

A Pakistan court on Monday sentenced six men to death and dozens more to jail terms ranging from two years to life for the brutal mob slaying of a Sri Lankan factory manager accused of blasphemy.

The vigilante attack in Sialkot last December 3 caused outrage, with then Prime Minister Imran Khan calling it a "day of shame for Pakistan". On Monday, prosecutors said 88 of 89 people on trial for the murder of Priyantha Diyawadana had been convicted, with six sentenced to death, nine to life in prison and the rest jail terms ranging from two to five years.

 "The prosecution team worked very hard to present its case to the court and to reach this judgement," Abdul Rauf Wattoo, the lead public prosecutor, told AFP, "We are satisfied with the outcome."

The trial was overseen by a special anti-terror court, established to speed up justice in high profile cases that can otherwise spend years being processed.

Contrary to it, the Indian establishment has a history of human rights abuses specially against its minorities. Still not a single crime against the human rights has been trialed under a court. In the current times, the life of minorities in India specially the Indian Muslims under a hardline Hindutva driven BJP government is in its worst state. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States is monitoring what he describes as a rise in human rights abuses in India by some officials, in a rare direct rebuke by Washington of the South Asian nation’s rights record.

“We regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values (of human rights) and, to that end, we are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police and prison officials,” Blinken said on 11 April, 2022, in a joint press briefing with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Authorities used bulldozers to raze a number of Muslim-owned shops in New Delhi before India’s Supreme Court halted the demolitions, days after communal violence shook the capital. Even after the SC’s stay the demolitions continued in a clear violation of the order with an aim to inflict maximum pain to the Muslim minority. 

The difference of human rights values is clearly evident between both the South Asian countries. Pakistan on one side is concerned and working to promote the human rights. While India on the other hand is engaged in human rights abuses on state level with BJP government playing the main role. International organizations working for human rights as well as UN must take notice of such acts and must keep track of a looming genocide of Muslim in India.