Indian envoy’s tweet amid backlash over “Islamophobic” posts in India

New Delhi: India and UAE share the values of non-discrimination on any grounds, the Indian ambassador to the country tweeted on Monday amid growing resentment in the Arab world over reports of Muslims being targeted in India over the coronavirus pandemic.
“India and UAE share the value of non-discrimination on any grounds. Discrimination is against our moral fabric and the Rule of law. Indian nationals in the UAE should always remember this,” Ambassador Pavan Kapoor.
He quoted a tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he had said, “COVID-19 does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking. Our response and conduct thereafter should attach primacy to unity and brotherhood. We are in this together.” The tweets come after a backlash in Arab countries, including UAE and Kuwait, over instances of Muslims being targeted in India amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the federation of 57 Muslim nations, on Sunday had tweeted.
Several Twitter users in Arab nations, including a member of UAE’s royal family have expressed their dismay at the vilification of Muslims in India since a congregation hosted last month by Islamic missionary group Tablighi Jamaat emerged as the biggest cluster of coronavirus cases in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had spoken out against any form of discrimination, saying the COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone equally.
The Prime Minister’s post came on a day when a police case was filed against a hospital in Uttar Pradesh after it placed an ad in local papers that it would admit Muslim patients only after COVID-19 screening.
Earlier this month, the Indian government had said that certain communities and neighbourhoods are being vilified based on false reports floating on social media and elsewhere, issuing an advisory to address the social stigma and discrimination surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
The advisory asked people not to spread on social media the names, identity or the locality of those affected by the virus or under quarantine. It also urged people to avoid spreading fear and panic.
The advisory came after a spurt in coronavirus cases following a religious congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at its Markaz or headquarters in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area, and instances of people blaming the Muslim community for the spread of the disease.