FO condemns RSS chief’s provocative remarks

28 Nov, 2021

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned and rejected the highly provocative and irresponsible remarks made by India’s Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat calling for undoing of the partition.

“Pakistan completely rejects and strongly condemns the highly provocative and irresponsible remarks made by Mohan Bhagwat, RSS chief, calling for “undoing” of the partition. This is not the first time that the RSS chief has publicly indulged in such delusional thinking and historical revisionism,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, while commenting on the provocative remarks by the Hindu nationalist leader.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan has repeatedly highlighted the threat posed to regional peace and stability by the toxic mix of the extremist “Hindutva” ideology, Hindu Rashtra and expansionist foreign policy, Akhand Bharat, being pursued by the ruling RSS-BJP dispensation in India.

“In the internal context, this dangerous mindset aims to completely marginalize and dispossess the minorities in India. In the external dimension, it poses an existential threat to all of India’s neighbours in South Asia,” he said.

He added that the world is witness to the systematic usurpation of the rights of minorities, especially Muslims, in India and the unabated repression of Kashmiris in IIOJK.

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“The reckless misadventures of India, including in February 2019, that seriously imperiled regional peace and stability are also in front of the world,” he added.

He stated that Pakistan has consistently opposed India’s hegemonic impulses and demonstrated a firm resolve to thwart any aggressive designs. While committed to peace, he added that the people and armed forces of Pakistan are fully capable of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

“Those belonging to the BJP and its ideological fountainhead RSS would be well- advised to refrain from making such provocative and irresponsible statements, accept the established realities, and learn to follow the imperatives of peaceful coexistence,” the spokesperson added.

According to Indian media, the RSS chief on Thursday said “the solution to the pain of India’s Partition lies in undoing it and asserted that division of the country won’t happen again.”

The RSS chief’s statement came on the eve of releasing of his book titled, “Bharat ke Vibhajan ke Sakshi” [The Witnesses of Partition-era India].

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021

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