Islamabad: Pakistan has condemned profiling of mosques and their management committees in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), calling it “blatant intrusion into religious affairs.”

According to Beyond the Time News, the Foreign Office in a statement said, “This blatant intrusion into religious affairs constitutes a grave violation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion and belief, and reflects yet another coercive attempt to intimidate and marginalize the Muslim population of the occupied territory.”

The development comes as the Indian authorities have launched a sweeping data-collection exercise targeting mosques and persons associated with them across IIOJK.

The Foreign Office said the forcible collection of personal details, photographs, and sectarian affiliations of religious functionaries amounts to systematic harassment, aimed at “instilling fear among worshippers and obstructing the free exercise of their faith.”

These actions form part of a broader pattern of institutionalised Islamophobia driven by the Hindutva ideology of the occupying Indian government. The selective targeting of mosques and Muslim clergy lays bare the discriminatory and communal character of these policies, it said.

The FO said the people of Jammu and Kashmir possess an inalienable right to practise their religion without fear, coercion, or discrimination.

“Pakistan will continue to stand in solidarity with them and will persist in raising its voice against all forms of religious persecution and intolerance targeting Kashmiris,” it maintained.