International Day to Combat Islamophobia 2023: March 15

International Day to Combat Islamophobia 2023: The United Nations established the International Day to Combat Islamophobia in 2022, which is observed annually on March 15 in 140 countries. March 15 was selected as the date because it marks the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque massacres, which left 51 people dead.

March 2023 Current Affairs Quiz

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution designating March 15 as the International Day to Fight Islamophobia, proposed by Pakistan and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The resolution was passed three years to the day after a right-wing fanatic attacked two mosques in New Zealand with a bomb, killing over 50 Muslims. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had 60 member states, and the UN General Assembly approved a resolution that declared March 15 to be the International Day to Fight Islamophobia. No religion, nation, civilization, or ethnic group should be associated with terrorism or violent extremism, according to the statement. It urges an international conversation about fostering a culture of peace and tolerance based on adherence to human rights.

What is Islamophobia?

Islamophobia is a fear, prejudice, and hatred of Muslims that leads to provocation, hostility, and intolerance by threatening, harassing, abusing, inciting, and intimidating Muslims and non-Muslims both online and offline. Motivated by institutional, ideological, political and religious hostility that transcends into structural and cultural racism, it targets the symbols and markers of being a Muslim.