India refutes Pak's ‘juvenile propaganda’ at UNESCO meet, calls 'fabricated lies'

Paris: India has issued a strongly-worded response to Pakistan's "juvenile" propaganda over the Supreme Court's verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into union territories, saying the "fabricated lies" were interference with its internal affairs.

"Mr President... we take this chair to refute Pakistan's juvenile propaganda to malign India through fabricated lies, full of deceit and deception. We condemn the unwarranted comments made by Pakistan on the judgment made by the Supreme Court of India. The judgment is about the rule of law, equal respect for all faiths, concepts that are alien to Pakistan and its ethos," an Indian official said while addressing the 40th UNESCO General Conference - General Policy Debate in Paris on Wednesday.

"So, while Pakistan's lack of comprehension is not surprising, their pathological compulsion to comment on our internal affairs with the obvious interest of spreading hatred is condemnable. Pakistan's intervention is interference in India's internal affairs. It is unacceptable and rejected," she added.

India's remarks came after Pakistan Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood expressed his dismay at the top court's verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute case; he claimed it was not in line with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) values of religious freedom.

Mahmood also called on the international community take "take note of this injustice".

The Indian delegation countered Mr Mahmood's claim by saying the most important fundamental right was that to life and, globally, the single largest threat to that right was from terrorism.

"Tragically, the reality facing us is that Pakistan is the world's largest producer and exporter of this evil. Pakistan's political approaches are rooted in terrorist violence and its global engagement is defined by mainstreaming of terrorism as an instrument of statecraft," she said.

India also responded to the Pakistan side's claims on the Kashmir issue, insisting that the newly-created Union Territories would "always be an integral part of India".

"The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have always been ours and shall always be an integral part of India and this includes the territory that is currently under the illegal and forcible occupation of Pakistan," she said.

On August 5, the centre withdrew special privileges given to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and divided it into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh; the new territories came into existence on October 31.

Pakistan has repeatedly tried to raise Article 370 at international forums but has failed to garner support.

In order to justify India's position, the official also raised questions to expose Pakistan's lies and deception to malign India.

"In which country were perpetrators of 9/11 and 26/11 discovered? Where were Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar discovered? Which country is home to 130 UN-designated terrorists and 25 terrorist entities listed by the United Nations as of today?" she asked.

"Which is the country where organisations such as Hizbul Mujahideen, Jamaat ud Dawa, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and many other banned terrorist outfits openly conduct their activities collect funds from the street and run their offices with the active support of the state machinery?" she continued.

"The answer to these questions is Pakistan," the official said.

In her concluding remarks, the official said the global community did not need Pakistan -- a hub of global terrorism-- to involve itself in India's internal affairs. The peace-loving members of UNESCO would serve humanity well by coming together to impress upon Pakistan to be a normal country and eschew preaching, practising and propagating terrorism, she added.