India takes on Imran Khan for his anti-India rant at UNGA

“Prime Minister Khan’s threat of unleashing nuclear devastation qualifies as brinksmanship, not statesmanship. Even coming from the leader of a country that has monopolised the entire value chain of the industry of terrorism, Prime Minister Khan’s justification of terrorism was brazen and incendiary,” Vidisha Maitra, first secretary MEA, told the UN General Assembly.

“Every word spoken from the podium of this august Assembly, it is believed, carries the weight of history. Unfortunately, what we heard today from Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was a callous portrayal of the world in binary terms. Us vs Them; Rich vs Poor; North vs South; Developed Vs Developing; Muslims vs Others. A script that fosters divisiveness at the United Nations. Attempts to sharpen differences and stir up hatred, are simply put - `hate speech’”. 

“For someone who was once a cricketer and believed in the gentleman’s game, today’s speech bordered on crudeness of the variety that is reminiscent of the guns of Darra Adam Khel,” she said. 

“Now that Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited UN Observers to Pakistan to verify that there are no militant organisations in Pakistan, the world will hold him to that promise. 

She also posed certain questions that Pakistan can respond to as a precursor to the proposed verification: 

-   Can Pakistan confirm the fact that it is home to 130 UN designated terrorists and 25 terrorist entities listed by the UN, as of today?

-   Will Pakistan acknowledge that it is the only government in the world that provides pension to an individual listed by the UN in the Al Qaeda and Da’esh Sanctions list!

-   Can Pakistan explain why here in New York, its premier bank, the Habib Bank had to shut shop after it was fined millions of dollars over terror financing?

-   Will Pakistan deny that the Financial Action Task Force has put the country on notice for its violations of more than 20 of the 27 key parameters?

-   And would Prime Minister Khan deny to the city of New York that he was an open defender of Osama bin Laden?

Having mainstreamed terrorism and hate speech, Pakistan is trying to play its wild card as the newfound champion of human rights.

This is a country that has shrunk the size of its minority community from 23 per cent in 1947 to 3 per cent today and has subjected Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyas, Hindus, Shias, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Balochis to draconian blasphemy laws, systemic persecution, blatant abuse and forced conversions.

Their newfound fascination for preaching human rights is akin to trophy hunting of the endangered mountain goat - markhor.

“Pogroms, Prime Minister Imran Khan Niazi, are not a phenomenon of today’s vibrant democracies. We would request you to refresh your rather sketchy understanding of history. Do not forget the gruesome genocide perpetrated by Pakistan against its own people in 1971 and the role played by Lt. Gen A A K Niazi. A sordid fact that the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh reminded this Assembly about earlier this afternoon.”      

“Pakistan’s virulent reaction to the removal of an outdated and temporary provision that was hindering development and integration of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir stems from the fact that those who thrive on conflict never welcome the ray of peace.

While Pakistan has ventured to upstream terrorism and downstream hate speech there, India is going ahead with mainstreaming development in Jammu and Kashmir.

The mainstreaming of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Ladakh, in India’s thriving and vibrant democracy with a millennia-old heritage of diversity, pluralism and tolerance is well and truly underway. Irreversibly so.

Citizens of India do not need anyone else to speak on their behalf, least of all those who have built an industry of terrorism from the ideology of hate.

After failing to create an international momentum, Pakistan tried to rake up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the UNGA with Imran Khan using the global platform to criticise India. Addressing the assembly for the first time after coming to power, Khan repeated, “there are 900,000 troops there, they haven’t come, as Narendra Modi says, for the prosperity of Kashmir…These 900,000 troops, what are they going to do? When they come out, there will be a bloodbath,” Khan told the UNGA in New York.

“What is going to happen when the curfew is lifted will be a bloodbath. Has he thought through what happens then?” Khan said, alleging “the people will be out in the streets and what will the soldiers do? They will shoot them.” Khan said that if things continue along this road, a face-off between two nuclear-armed nations was all but inevitable.

Khan said that Pakistan had decided to “dismantle what was left of these terrorist groups”, and asked the UN to send observers. 

Meanwhile, the US asked Pakistan why it was only bothered about the human rights of Muslims in Kashmir and is not highlighting the “horrific conditions” that continue to exist for the members of the community throughout China.

India also took strong exception to Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s reference to Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh in his address at the UNGA, asserting that the region is an integral part of the country and all nations should respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Wang told the UN General Assembly that the “dispute” should be peacefully and properly addressed in accordance with the UN Charter, UN Security Council resolutions and the bilateral agreement. The Chinese foreign minister also stressed that no actions should be taken that would unilaterally change the “status quo” of Kashmir.

The Chinese side is well aware of India’s position that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral part of India, and that the recent developments are entirely a matter internal to us,” a spokesman of the ministry of foreign affairse said. He said India expects other countries to respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “We expect that other countries will respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and desist from efforts to change the status quo through the illegal so-called China Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he added.