Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday lashed out at India over the National Register of Citizens exercise, claiming that the publication of the final list was part of the government’s policy to target Muslims. The list, published on Saturday morning, included 3.11 crore people but left out over 19 lakh.

“Reports in Indian and international media on Modi Govt’s ethnic cleansing of Muslims should send alarm bells ringing across the world that the illegal annexation of Kashmir is part of a wider policy to target Muslims,” Khan tweeted.


Also read: ‘It’s anti-Muslim’: Four things you’ve heard about NRC that aren’t strictly true


Tensions between India and Pakistan peaked after the Narendra Modi-led government on August 5 revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. Khan, condemning the move, on August 16 described the Modi-led government as “fascist” and “Hindu supremacist”.

“The fascist, Hindu supremacist Modi Government should know that while armies, militants and terrorists can be defeated by superior forces; history tells us that when a nation unites in a freedom struggle and does not fear death, no force can stop it from achieving its goal,” he said in a tweet.

The Pakistan prime minister had on August 11 compared the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party, to Nazi Germany. “Attempt is to change demography of Kashmir through ethnic cleansing,” he had tweeted. “Question is: Will the world watch and appease as they did Hitler at Munich?” Khan had also cautioned against the “impending genocide of Kashmiris”.


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