‘Systemic victimization of minorities’: India slams Pakistan army chief’s comments on Shia community ‘going to Iran’

New Delhi: India on Friday harshly criticized Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir’s remarks reportedly asking Shias to “go to Iran”, saying it was part of Islamabad’s “systemic victimization of minorities”.“Responding to the issue at a weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We have seen reports on this issue. Such comments are not isolated incidents but are part of Pakistan’s systemic victimization of minorities, including Shias. The decline in the number of minorities in Pakistan over decades is a reflection of the fear, persecution, oppression and neglect they have had to endure at the hands of the Pakistani state.”“I don’t need to go into detail about Pakistan’s poor record on protecting the human rights of minorities, which is also well documented,” he added.Tensions increased after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli operation earlier this month, sparking anger among the Shia community across the Muslim world.Protests against the development turned violent in Pakistan, where Shiites are a minority, leaving at least 25 people dead.Against this backdrop, Munir reportedly told Shiite clerics that those who “love Iran so much” should “go to Iran” – comments that drew strong criticism from community leaders, who called them provocative and offensive.Munir’s remarks came after he reportedly warned that Pakistan would not tolerate violence in response to developments in Iran.During the meeting, Shia cleric Mohammad Shifa al-Najafi refuted the comments and urged Munir not to blame the entire community for the actions of a few.