News Desk |
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan voiced his fears of another major confrontation with India after the recently de-escalated tensions. Speaking to the Financial Times, Prime Minister Khan once again raised his apprehensions over New Delhi’s war hysteria ploy to assist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the upcoming election.
PM Khan said, “I’m still apprehensive before the elections, I feel that something could happen”. He stated that tensions between the two countries continue to soar despite Pakistan’s initiative to de-escalate tensions triggered in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack by returning the captured Indian pilot the very next day.
Arundhati Roy stressed that New Delhi’s brutal strategy of violence towards the Kashmir conflict is stirring large-scale unrest in the region by denying Kashmiris the right to decide their fate.
PM Khan told Financial Times, “When Pulwama happened I felt that Mr. Modi’s government used that to build this war hysteria”. PM Imran Khan reinstated Pakistan’s denial of being involved in staging the Pulwama attack and also reasserted that a crackdown against extremist and banned outfits is well underway.
He urged the Indian public to realize Modi-BJP’s campaign strategy to win the upcoming election. PM Khan said, “The Indian public should realize that this is all for winning the elections; it’s nothing to do with the real issues of the subcontinent.” Prime Minister Imran Khan had earlier expressed his apprehensions over further India-Pakistan confrontations in a meeting with key media representatives.
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PM Khan’s observations are quoted by Dawn, “The danger is not over. The situation will remain tense till forthcoming general elections in India. We are already prepared to avert any aggression from India.” Another media outlet quoted PM Khan, “Pakistan needs to be fully alert as threat by India is possible until their elections. The nation must not let down their guard”.
Reckless Modi: Representative of Fascist RSS
Speaking to Mehdi Hassan on his TV Show Upfront, renowned Indian novelist and human rights activist Arundhati Roy regarded Modi’s decision to launch the infamous air strikes against Pakistan following the Pulwama attack as “reckless”. She observed that this act triggered India and Pakistan to become the first nuclear-armed states to commit aggression against each other and “put the whole world in jeopardy”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan voiced his fears of another major confrontation with India after the recently de-escalated tensions.
Roy highlighted the conflict of Kashmir as the boiling point of all tensions between India and Pakistan, and reminded the host that “history did not begin with Pulwama in Kashmir”. Arundhati Roy stressed that New Delhi’s brutal strategy of violence towards the Kashmir conflict is stirring large-scale unrest in the region by denying Kashmiris the right to decide their fate. She stressed, “Kashmiris should be given a chance to express their opinions fearlessly.”
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Roy noted that the anti-Pakistan rhetoric is unlikely to help Modi succeed in the upcoming election because “everything is in crisis”, counting challenges faced by the farmers, students and more. She reminded that “Modi is not the problem”, but in fact, he is “a representative of the most powerful organization in India, the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]”, the organization that controls the “cultural guild of the BJP”.
While responding to Hassan’s question on the fascist elements of Modi’s Hindutva policies, Roy noted that the RSS itself has published its ideologues and written material in praise of Hitler and Mussolini, along with calling “Muslim second class citizens”. Roy said, “If you look at the games that have been played, the false flag attacks, the trail of deaths, of murders, of lynching-you see fascism, what else do you see?”
Mina Jahangir with additional input from News Desk.