Yasin Malik, hijab row, Pakistan: A look at times when OIC hit out at India

The OIC, in its statement, had expressed “solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for their rights including their right for self-determination.” It also urged the international community to ensure that the struggle of Kashmiris for their rights should “not be equated with terrorism”.

However, this is not the first time that a statement by the OIC has invited sharp reactions from India. A look at some of the matters on which the organisation has expressed its concerns and how India has reacted to them. Read our explainer on what OIC is and its relations with India.

On Jammu and Kashmir

A policeman in Srinagar. (AP Photo/File)

In the past, the OIC has been supportive of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir, and has issued statements criticising the alleged Indian “atrocities” in the Valley. During the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation in March this year, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan offered a despondent assessment of the its failures in Kashmir, and regretted that the West did not take the grouping seriously.

India reacted to this by calling it all “falsehoods and misrepresentation”. “The statements and resolutions adopted at the meeting demonstrate both the irrelevance of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as a body and the role of Pakistan as its manipulator,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

In May this year, India slammed the organisation for its “unwarranted” comments on the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir. It further asked the group to refrain from carrying out its “communal agenda” at the behest of one country, in an oblique reference to Pakistan.

The organisation has called on India to “halt security operations against the people of Jammu and Kashmir immediately, respect basic human rights, refrain from changing the demographic structure of the disputed territory, and settle the conflict under the relevant UNSC’s resolutions”.

Malik, the chief of banned JKLF, was on May 19 convicted by a Delhi court under the stringent anti-terror law in a case related to funding of terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir. (File)

On ‘continued attacks on Muslims in India’

The Organization in February also expressed deep concern over recent public calls for “genocide of Muslims by the ‘Hindutva’ proponents in Haridwar”.

The continued attacks targeting Muslims and their places of worship, the recent trend of anti-Muslim legislations in different states and rising incidents of violence against Muslims on flimsy pretexts by ‘Hindutva’ groups with impunity, are indicative of the growing trend of Islamophobia, OIC had stated

On the hijab row

Muslim students protest against the Karnataka High Court’s verdict on the ‘hijab’ row (PTI)

After the Karnataka High Court had pronounced its verdict on the hijab controversy, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation had highlighted and expressed concern on the banning of Muslim students from wearing hijab in Karnataka. It also talked about the reported incidents of harassment of Muslim women on social media sites.

Reacting to this, the Ministry of External Affairs, in a sharply worded statement, had said: “The communal mindset of the OIC Secretariat does not allow for a proper appreciation of these realities. OIC continues to be hijacked by vested interests to further their nefarious propaganda against India.”

On ‘anti-Muslim prejudice over Covid-19’

In 2020, the OIC had talked about the media accounts of what it called was “rising anti-Muslim sentiments and Islamophobia within political and media circles” where Muslims were blamed for spreading the coronavirus in the country.

On LoC violation

40 CRPF personnel were killed in the 2019 Pulwama attack. (File photo)

In February 2019, when India and Pakistan were at loggerheads after a terrorist attack in J&K’s Pulwama district, the organisation reacted to India’s “violation” of the line of control with Pakistan.

Its statement condemned the “Indian incursion and aerial violation and dropping of four bombs” on 26 February 2019 and urged New Delhi and Islamabad to exercise restraint and avoid any steps that would endanger peace and security in the region. It further called upon both parties to act responsibly and encouraged them to seek peaceful solution to current crisis without resort to use of force.

The OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organisation in the world after the United Nations, with a membership of 57 countries spread across four continents. The OIC describes itself as “the collective voice of the Muslim world”, and its stated objective is “to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world”.