United Nations: Pakistan’s foreign minister has defended his remarks on India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and has urged Indians to protest against the hatred and discrimination Muslims face in their own country. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari defended his statements on Sunday, saying they were based on “history” and that it is difficult to distort them. “They must also condemn the Muslim genocide in Gujarat, and condemn the way Muslims in India, who are the largest minority in the world, are treated. I wish... they had also protested for their own Muslim citizens – who are now the victims of discrimination, hatred – instead of targeting me,” he told Pakistani media at a news conference at the UN.

 

“You cannot rewrite history to suit your likes and dislikes,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari added. This comes after Mr Bhutto-Zardari labeled Mr Modi as “the butcher of Gujarat” in response to his Indian counterpart’s comments calling Pakistan “the host of Osama bin Laden” and the “perpetrator of terrorism”.

 

“Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives and he is the prime minister of India,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari had said, referring to the riots in the state in 2022 when India’s Hindu nationalist leader Mr Modi was its chief minister.

 

The exchanges between the foreign ministers were made on the sidelines of an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in New York last week. In a statement on Friday, India’s foreign ministry slammed Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks, calling them ”uncivilised”. “These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan,” it said. “Pakistan FM’s uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies,” India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.

 

Protests against Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks were held by workers of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] in various parts of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Karnataka on Saturday. “We will not tolerate any statement against our prime minister. PM Narendra Modi is the one who is striving hard to save our Hindu religion, and Pakistan is unable to see it. That is why they are making such statements,” BJP Maharashtra party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule told news agency PTI.

 

Meanwhile, Pakistani minister Shazia Marri defended the country’s foreign minister, threatening that India “should not forget that Pakistan has an atom bomb. Our nuclear status is not meant to remain silent. We will not back down if the need arises,” Ms Marri said. But she later tweeted that “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state,” adding that the country “has sacrificed far more than India in the fight against terrorism”.