A controversial statement made by the Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given rise to nationwide protests in India led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
Pakistan Foreign Minister said “”Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives and he is the Prime Minister of India.”
He made this statement while responding to Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs S. Jaishankar’s remarks during a press conference held on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council meetings on Saturday (17). Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar cemented India’s position against Islamabad and called it the “epicenter of terrorism”. “Pakistan is not good at taking good advice. The world today sees them as the epicenter of terrorism,” Jaishankar said. He referred to several Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks which rocked Mumbai in 2008 and World Trade Organization (WTO) in September 2001.
Further speaking the Pakistan Foreign Minister also said that RSS was inspired by Hitler.
Given below is the full statement of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari that sparked outrage across India.
“They continuously perpetuate this philosophy. It’s not just for Pakistan it’s for the Muslims in India. We’re terrorists whether we’re Muslims in Pakistan and whether we’re Muslims in India.
I’d like to remind the Honorable Foreign Minister or the Minister for External Affairs of India that Osama Bin Laden is dead. But the Butcher of Gujarat lives and he is the Prime Minister of India. He 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 draws his inspiration from Hitler’s SS. The RSS.
I saw yesterday that the Foreign Minister of India was with the U.N security Secretary General inaugurating a statue of Gandhi. But if the Foreign Minister of India was being honest that he knows as well as I that the RSS does not believe in Gandhi, in the ideology of Gandhi, in the manifesto of Gandhi. They do not see this individual as the founder of India. They hero worship the terrorists that assassinated Gandhi within India.
Who perpetuates terrorism? Is it Pakistan? Ask the people of Gujarat. They will say it’s their Prime Minister. Ask the people of Kashmir. They will say The Butcher of Gujarat is not the Butcher of Kashmir. And I’m not talking about some imaginary past. I’m talking about today. They’re not even attempting to wash the blood of people of Gujarat off their hands for their own election campaigns. They have pardoned; Prime Minister Modi and his government have used their authority to pardon; the men who perpetuated rape against Muslims in Gujarat, who conducted the gang rape of women in Gujarat. Those rapists; those terrorists were freed; were pardoned for the Prime Minister of India.
This is the truth of the matter. So in order for them to perpetuate their politics of hate, their Hindu supremacists transition from a secular India to the Hindu supremacist India, this narrative is very important for them. It’s very important for them domestically and it’s very important for them internationally. They demonize the people of Pakistan. They expect the world to believe that we are all terrorists. I know we are not.
I have presented this document dossier. Not talking about whenever well backwards. I’m talking about 2021. We have proof that your government facilitated a terrorist attack in Pakistan. So I don’t see how Pakistan is the epicenter of terrorism. I do believe that we are the victims of terrorism. If it’s not the government of India, certainly the people of India have been victims of terrorism. The people of Afghanistan have been victims of terrorism. The people of the United States, the people of Europe have been the victims of terrorism. And it’s for us to work together to combat the politics of hate, to combat whether it’s Islamic extremism or Hindu extremism to come together and face these challenges and not pursue narrow populism; religious populism, divisive politics domestically or internationally and to further spread hate within communities otherwise it’s not just this generation, all the generations to come will continue in this cycle.”
Describing Bilawal Bhutto’s remark as “highly derogatory and full of cowardice”, BJP said the remarks were given to divert global attention from Pakistan’s collapsing economy, lawlessness and anarchy in Pakistan.
“The statement is also aimed at misleading the world and divert global attention from Pakistan’s collapsing economy, lawlessness and anarchy in Pakistan, simmering differences in the Pakistani army, its deteriorating global relations and the fact that Pakistan has become the major sanctuary for terrorists,” it said.
The BJP workers also staged a protest outside Pakistan High Commission in Delhi against Bilawal’s statement. The BJP said that India’s foreign policy is being appreciated globally, while Pakistan is facing backlash from even smaller nations.
“On one hand we have our Prime Minister Narendra Modi under whose leadership India has left its indelible mark on various global fora, and on the other hand, we have Pakistan which has faced ridicule and insult on various international platforms. On one hand, India’s foreign policy is being appreciated globally, while on the other hand, Pakistan is facing backlash from even smaller nations,” the BJP said.