In response to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s fiery speech on Saturday that referred to Pakistan as “the greatest exporter of havoc, death and inhumanity”, the country’s permanent representative to the UN retaliated by bringing up Kashmir at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on Sunday morning.
Maleeha Lodhi used Islamabad’s right of reply to claim India as the “mother of terrorism in South Asia, not (us)”. She called Swaraj’s speech a “litany of falsehoods”
She also blamed India for state-sponsored crimes in Kashmir and showed the image of a woman allegedly from Kashmir who was injured by pellet guns and claimed: "this is the face of India."
Pak Makes Exception, Sends Permanent Rep To Respond to Swaraj
Much of what is in the air in India now is pure terror, in Kashmir, and in other places.Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative
Delving into Indian politics, Lodhi also borrowed the standard lines of a section of Indian secularists who describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government as “fascist” and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as a “fanatic”.
Usually, a junior or mid-level diplomat delivers the rejoinders, but in a sign of how much it regards the impact of Swaraj’s speech, Pakistan took the unusual step of sending its permanent representative – one of the the senior-most officials in its diplomatic corps – to exercise its right to reply.
Lodhi said that “a racist and fascist ideology is firmly embedded in Modi’s government and that its leadership is drawn from the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) which is accused of assassinating Mahatma Gandhi”. She slammed Adityanath’s election to head Uttar Pradesh, saying “the government has appointed a fanatic as the Chief Minister of India’s largest state. It is a government, which has allowed the lynching of Muslims,” Lodhi said.
She went on to quote from Roy’s November 2015 statement: “These horrific murders are only a symptom. Life is hell for the living too. Whole populations of Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and Christians are being forced to live in terror, unsure of when and from where the assault would come.”
Lodhi took particular objection to Swaraj’s observation about Pakistan’s founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said, bequeathed a foreign policy based on peace and friendship. Swaraj said it “remains open to question whether Jinnah Sahab actually advocated such principles.”
Lodhi said Pakistan remained open to resuming a comprehensive dialogue with India but it should include Kashmir and end what she claimed was a “campaign of subversion and state-sponsored terrorism”.
Pak Media Responds Aggressively
Pakistan’s prime-time TV tends to veer on the dramatic side. So, for a speech like Swaraj’s in the UNGA, the reactions were equally explosive, with a guest on a news channel even calling Swaraj an “irate, overweight housewife”.
Times of Islamabad chose to report on how Sikhs and Kashmiris were alleging and protesting against Indian state sponsored crimes in Kashmir outside the UNGA hall “where (Swaraj) mongered hate against Pakistan” Dawn reported Swaraj’s speech as a foreign policy move, one where “Indian PM Narendra Modi stepped up a drive to isolate Pakistan diplomatically after the Uri.”
Pakistan Defence, the country’s “largest digital forum” on all matters of defence news took to social media to report Pakistan’s reaction to the speech, accurately summing up the feelings of many Pakistani citizens who also took to Twitter to vent out anger after Swaraj’s speech.
(With inputs from IANS)
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