Cutting across party lines, opposition parties in India have slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for making a mockery of himself by praising a terrorist like Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that Nawaz Sharif’s statement has discredited the Pakistani Prime Minister.
Expressing disappointment over Sharif’s UNGA statement, Tharoor pointed out that he is the same man who had welcomed PM Modi on his birthday in Pakistan.
“Nawaz Sharif has become more and more disappointing. He is the same man who had welcomed PM for his birthday and is now hailing Burhan Wani,” Tharoor said.
“This kind of nonsense really discredits the kind of responsible statements you expect from the Prime Minister of a country,” he added.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi also slammed Nawaz Sharif and said that nobody believes in the sincerity of Pakistan’s statements.
“I think Pakistan doesn’t realise that it makes a mockery of itself and of its country when its Prime Minister makes such frivolous and ridiculous statements. There doesn’t appear to be minority of one or two countries in the world who believe in the sincerity of Pakistan’s statements,” Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
“The biggest exporter of terrorism in the world is talking about proclaimed terrorists in a laudable and praiseworthy format. And talking of Kashmir’s right to self determination, while conducting terrorist attacks in that area. I think Pakistan should realise that it makes itself the laughing stock of the world when it does so,” he added.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut accused Pakistan of insulting Indian Army by calling Burhan Wani “people’s leader”.
“It has always been the policy of Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir issue. Yesterday also it said that Burhan Wani was a people’s leader. Wani was a terrorist and is a terrorist for us. He was killed by the Indian Army because he was a militant. Therefore, by calling him a people’s leader, Pakistan has insulted the Indian Army,” Raut told reporters.
“Pakistan has been trying to raise the Kashmir issue on the global platform, but the UN has never accepted that. India will now have to take such a step so that Pakistan never opens up its mouth about Kashmir in UN. And it cannot happen through talks only. We have to take action. The Indian government wants to isolate Pakistan globally. It should now end all its relations with them. The Pakistan High Commission that is there in New Delhi should be closed. Basit should be sent back to Islamabad. We should not have any kind of relations with Pakistan,” he added.
A major portion of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech was focussed on Kashmir.
Sharif hailed the slain HIzbul militant Burhan Wani as a “young leader” and said that Pakistan will continue to support voices in Kashmir for self-determination.
“Burhan Wani, the young leader murdered by Indian forces, has emerged as the symbol of the latest Kashmiri Intifada, a popular and peaceful freedom movement, led by Kashmiris,” Sharif said.
