ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned the profiling of mosques and mosque management committees by Indian authorities in Indian illegally occupied Kashmir, calling the measures a serious violation of religious freedom and an example of “institutionalised Islamophobia”.
Indian police in the occupied valley distributed forms to “collect” financial and personal details of mosques and seminaries, including mosque leaders and members of management committees, Hindustan Times reported, which quoted local residents and Kashmiri leaders.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office, in a statement, said that the Indian police action is a “blatant intrusion into religious affairs constitutes a grave violation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion and belief”.
The action “reflects yet another coercive attempt to intimidate and marginalise the Muslim population of the occupied territory,” the Foreign Office said.
The forms included sections for seminary teachers and mosque leaders to provide details of their “Aadhaar cards, bank accounts, property ownership, social media handles, passport, ration card, driving licence, SIM cards and mobile phone model along with the IMEI”, the Hindustan Times reported.
The Indian daily added that details regarding the “religious sect” of the mosques were also sought.
A lawmaker from Srinagar called it “an infringement of the religious freedom guaranteed under the Indian Constitution,” saying the move aimed to “control religion and mosques,” the report said.
In the statement, Pakistan’s 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.”
🔊PR No.1️⃣9️⃣/2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣
Pakistan Condemns the Profiling of Mosques and Mosque Management Committees in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir https://t.co/OGiJwDFgaJ
🔗⬇️ pic.twitter.com/8s2sk06fZi— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) January 17, 2026
“These actions form part of a broader pattern of institutionalised Islamophobia driven by the Hindutva ideology of the occupying Indian government,” said the statement.
The Foreign Office added that the “selective targeting of mosques and Muslim clergy lays bare the discriminatory and communal character of these policies”.
Pakistan maintained that the “people of Jammu and Kashmir possess an inalienable right to practice 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,” said the statement.
In November, United Nations experts sounded the alarm over “serious human rights violations” in Indian illegally occupied Kashmir by the Indian government, issuing the warning in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.
Earlier, on Thursday, Pakistani delegate Asif Khan told the United Nations General Assembly, “Jammu and Kashmir is not ‘an integral part’ of India, nor has it ever been so under international law.”
Pakistan brushed aside India’s untenable claim that Jammu and Kashmir was its “integral and inalienable part”, saying that the UN resolutions recognised the Himalayan state as a disputed territory.
Khan said India continues to deny this right to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for decades, a right affirmed by the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, coupled with systematic suppression.
The final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is to be determined in accordance with the freely expressed will of its people, through a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under UN auspices, Khan said.
The Pakistani delegate said that since 5 August 2019, India has embarked on a course aimed at transforming the occupied territory from a Muslim-majority state into a Hindu-majority territory, in blatant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law.
