New Delhi: India on Friday lashed out at Pakistan saying it needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah. The reaction comes after Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto took a jibe at PM Modi and said in a highly objectionable comment that Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives."
He was reacting to India calling Pakistan the epicenter of terrorism at the UN. "Responsibility does not come from one's post, responsibility is a part of one's character. Many people talk responsibly without any post and many talks irresponsibly despite holding posts," the minister said.
In a befitting reply, calling it uncivilized remarks, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "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".
"As recent conferences and events have demonstrated, counter-terrorism remains high on the global agenda. Pakistan’s indisputable role in sponsoring, harboring, and actively financing terrorist and terrorist organizations remains under the scanner. Pakistan FM’s uncivilized outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies", said Bagchi.
The spokesperson noted that cities like New York, Mumbai, Pulwama, Pathankot and London are among the many that bear the scars of Pakistan-sponsored, supported and instigated terrorism. This violence has emanated from their Special Terrorist Zones and exported to all parts of the world. "Make in Pakistan” terrorism has to stop.
He noted that 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 of having 126 UN-designated terrorists and 27 UN-designated terrorist entities!
"We wish that Pakistan FM would have listened more sincerely yesterday at the UN Security Council to the testimony of Ms. Anjali Kulthe, a Mumbai nurse who saved the lives of 20 pregnant women from the bullets of the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab. The Foreign Minister was more interested in whitewashing Pakistan’s role", said the MEA spokesperson.
He said that 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 mindset or remain a pariah.
