New Delhi: Reacting sharply against Pakistan after it termed commencement of construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh as the government advancing “Hindutva Agenda”, India on Thursday said that the neighbouring country has no locus standi.
"We have seen an absurd statement by Pakistan on a matter on which it has no locus standi. Given its record, Pakistan should be embarrassed to even mention minorities. After all, numbers don’t lie even if they do,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
Pakistan had on Wednesday criticised India for starting the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
"The commencement of construction of a mandir at the site of the historic Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on May 26, 2020, is another step in this direction and the Government and people of Pakistan condemn it in the strongest terms," said Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) in a statement.
Criticizing the Indian Supreme Court's judgement, Pakistan said the decision "completely failed to uphold the demands of justice".
As for the judiciary, “Pakistan must realize that theirs is thankfully not the norm. There are others elsewhere with credibility and integrity that Pakistan understandably finds difficult to recognise,” Mr Srivastava added.
“India is a nation served by the rule of law and which guarantees equal rights to all faiths. Pakistan’s Foreign Office may take time out and read their own constitution to realize the difference," he said.
Ending a decades-old dispute, the Supreme Court had in November last year paved the way for building a Ram Mandir by a trust at the site in Ayodhya.
The construction work of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya began on May 26.
