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UNITED NATIONS — Pakistan, in a letter to a UN official dealing with culture and civilisation, has warned that the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is a "significant threat" to "peace in the region".
"Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms the construction and consecration of the 'Ram Temple' on the site of the demolished Babri Mosque in Ayodhya," the country’s Permanent Representative Munir Akram wrote to Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Under-Secretary General and High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilisations.
Akram said in the letter, released on Wednesday, that the Mandir's construction and dedication was "a significant threat" to "the harmony and peace in the region" and called for Martinos's "urgent intervention for the protection of religious sites in India".
Akram asserted that "other mosques, including the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Eidgah Mosque in Mathura, face similar threats of desecration and destruction".
He added: "The statements of some Chief Ministers of Indian states have linked such actions to territorial claims against Pakistan."
The mandates of the UN Alliance of Civilisations include promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogue and understanding.
A press release from Pakistan’s UN Mission on Wednesday said that Akram raised the Ram Mandir during a meeting of the ambassadors of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the group agreed to include it in the agenda for the next meeting. When it was discussed, the press release said that some Ambassadors mentioned the attacks on mosques in some European countries and Palestine’s Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour brought up the Israeli action at Al-Aqsa and the demolition of mosques and churches.
OIC's General Secretariat on Tuesday had expressed “grave worry” over the inauguration of the Ram Mandir and denounced it.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)