New Delhi: India has reacted sharply to Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s ‘butcher of Gujarat’ comment against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an obvious to the 2002 riots.
Responding to Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s ‘hosting Osama Bin Laden’ comment at the UN Security Council, Bhutto said: “I want to tell India that Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives and he is the Prime Minister of India. He (PM Modi) was banned from entering this country until he became prime minister. This is the prime minister of the RSS and the foreign minister of the RSS. What is the RSS? The RSS takes inspiration from Hitler’s SS.”
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Friday slammed the Pakistan minister for his ‘uncivilised outburst’ at Friday’s UN Security Council meeting.
“These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has obviously forgotten this day in 1971, which was a direct result of the genocide unleashed by Pakistani rulers against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not seem to have changed much in the treatment of its minorities. It certainly lacks credentials to cast aspersions at India,” Bagchi said.
“As recent conferences and events have demonstrated, counter-terrorism remains high on the global agenda. Pakistan’s indisputable role in sponsoring, harbouring and actively financing terrorists and terrorist organisations remains under the scanner. Pakistan FM’s uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies,” MEA stated.
New York, Mumbai, Pulwama, Pathankot and London have borne the brunt of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, MEA pointed out. “This violence has emanated from their Special Terrorist Zones and exported to all parts of the world. ‘Make in Pakistan’ terrorism has to stop,” MEA stressed.
“Pakistan is a country that glorifies Osama bin Laden as a martyr, and shelters terrorists like Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. No other country can boast having 126 UN-designated terrorists and 27 UN-designated terrorist entities,” MEA stated.
“Pakistan FM’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their State policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah,” added the MEA.
BJP Workers Protest Outside Pakistan Embassy in Delhi
BJP workers staged a massive protest near Pakistan’s embassy in Delhi over Bhutto’s ‘butcher of Gujarat’ remark on Modi, slanting slogans like ‘Pakistan hay hay’, ‘Bilawal Bhutto maafi maango’.
Even as Delhi Police put up barricades to prevent BJP workers from marching towards the Pak Embassy, the protesters rushed past the first set of barricades.
They were stopped at the second line of barricades, in the Chanakyapuri area. Police also detained some BJP workers.
