Pakistan on Tuesday wrote to the United Nations Children’s Fund, opposing its decision to name actor Priyanka Chopra as its goodwill ambassador for peace.
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari wrote that Chopra had publicly endorsed the Indian government’s positions and backed Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s “nuclear threat” to Pakistan. Mazari said the “entire policy” of the Bharatiya Janata Party government of India was “similar to the Nazi doctrine of ethnic cleansing, racism, fascism and genocide”.
Mazari claimed that India was carrying out ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Kashmir, and was denying four million Indian Muslims their citizenship in Assam, detaining them in centres similar to Nazi concentration camps. The minister said India had violated all international conventions via its actions in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
“All this goes completely against the principles of peace and goodwill that Ms Chopra is supposed to uphold as the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace,” Mazari wrote. “Her jingoism and support for violations by the Modi government of international conventions and UNSC resolutions on Kashmir, as well as support for war, including a nuclear war, undermines the credibility of the UN position to which she has been elevated. Unless she is removed immediately, the very idea of a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace becomes a mockery globally.”
India’s central government had on August 5 revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. In response, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and stopped trade with India. It also announced its intention to take the matter of Kashmir to the International Court of Justice.
On August 10, a Pakistani woman had accused Chopra of promoting war between India and Pakistan during a public event at Beautycon Los Angeles. Recalling her tweet praising the Indian Armed Forces for the February 26 strikes in Balakot, Ayesha Malik had said: “You are a United Nations ambassador for peace, and you are encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan. There is no winner in this.”
In response, Chopra had said that she was not fond of war but was a patriotic person.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!