At the United Nations, Pakistan has called for redoubling efforts to halt and reverse the rising trend of Islamophobia and other forms of racial discrimination. 

Pakistan permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi stated this in the 47-member Council’s general debate on racism.

He rejected any effort to legislate discriminatory and targeted measures against Muslim individuals and communities under the garb of countering terrorism in certain Western and other countries.

Khalil Hashmi said that Islamophobia is a dangerous form of contemporary racism, nurtured by decades of public rhetoric and policies against as well as stereotyping of Muslim communities and minorities.

In a separate speech on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Khalil Hashmi said that the failure to combat racial discrimination, xenophobia and religious intolerance not only threatens societies but also undermines aspirations for peaceful global coexistence.

The Ambassador said these disturbing trends are most vivid in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir where the neo-colonialist regime is changing the demographic structure by converting Muslim majority into a minority and effacing their distinct cultural and religious identity, in clear violation and defiance of international law. /agencies