Pakistan Is Not A "Democratic Country": Ravi Shankar Prasad In UK

NDTV

2 days ago

London:
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is leading the all-party delegation in the United Kingdom, said that Pakistan is not a "democratic country" and added that Pakistan's armed forces have made the country for themselves and are "unelectable and unaccountable."
Highlighting the example of Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, whom he said was "defeated in the field" but promoted to Field Marshal, Mr Prasad drew parallels with former military rulers like Ayub Khan.
While addressing the Indian community in London on Sunday, Ravi Shankar Prasad also spoke about Operation Sindoor and mentioned how Indian forces targeted terrorist camps in Bahawalpur, Muridke, Muzaffarabad, and other places of Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK). He stated that Indian forces only targeted terrorist camps. However, he said the Pakistani forces attacked Indian skies and mentioned how Indian forces responded to them.
Mr Prasad said, "What is the problem of Pakistan? The problem with Pakistan is that it is not a democratic country. 'Muhammad Ali Jinnah ne banaya Pakistan, wo ban gaya Generals ki dukaan, that is the situation of Pakistan. The second thing, very important, is people, leaders make the country. There, Pakistan armed forces have made a country for themselves, unelectable, not accountable, not popular sanction, but they seized power. Ayub Khan field marshal for 10 years. Mr Yahya Khan for seven and a half years, Mr Zia ul Haq for eleven years, General Musharraf for nine years."
"Now you have Munir, General, who was defeated in the field but became a field marshal. That is the whole scenario. The Prime Minister said, enough is enough. On the 7th of May, Indian forces made a decisive blow against only the terrorist outfit, Bahawalpur, Muridke, Muzaffarabad, 100 terrorists were killed. Remember this attack was unleashed at the dead of night around 1:30 for 20 minutes only, and no civilian casualties were there. In the morning, we informed the Pakistani establishment, raat mein aapki pitai ki hai, lekin khali terrorist camp ko hi pita hai (You were beaten up at night, but only terrorist camps were targeted), okay, no citizen has been touched at all. They did not respond. They attacked our skies, the cities through missiles. And I want you to salute our air force and armed forces. They completely blocked all the missiles, completely paralysed them," he added.
Referring to Ayub Khan, who served as Pakistan's President from 1958 to 1969, he holds the distinction of being the country's first Field Marshal. Notably, his promotion to this highest military rank was self-appointed, following his coup and assumption of the presidency in 1958. Despite the military setbacks, Pakistan's government is projecting the outcome as a "historic victory", General Munir's leadership during the conflict.
Ravi Shankar Prasad mentioned how 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was caught in Pakistan. He said that the terrorists who hijacked the plane to rescue Masood Azhar had been killed and Masood Azhar's family members were also killed by the Indian Armed Forces under Operation Sindoor.
He said, "9/11 in America, a gentleman known as Osama bin Laden, where was he caught? You know it very well, in Pakistan, who unleashed the entire mayhem of Al-Qaeda and the attack in New York. You remember that Daniel Pearl, the journalist, many journalists are sitting here and watching, it was slit and you'll be happy to know the terrorist who slit his neck has been slit by the missiles of India in this attack. The terrorists who hijacked the plane to rescue Masood Azhar had also been killed, and Masood Azhar's two brothers, brother-in-laws, and sisters have all been killed. Why are we here? We are here to tell the world terrorism is a global cancer."
He emphasised that India has never been an aggressor and it has only responded. He said that the Indian government has always tried to be peaceful with Pakistan and recalled how Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited then-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony in 2014. Prasad said PM Modi even made a stopover in Pakistan on his return to India from Afghanistan after Nawaz Sharif invited him for his grandson's wedding.
Speaking about the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, he said, "A big terrorist attack happened in Pahalgam, you know it very well, on the 22nd of April. 26 people were killed. Your religious profile was asked, and you were killed with impunity. Hindus were killed, Christians were killed, and the most shocking was, I will tell my two distinguished women MPs colleagues to elaborate on it. How would you respond if a newlywed couple, just married 10 days ago, had come for the honeymoon, and before the wife's religious identity was asked and killed in cold blood, someone was married two months ago? It was barbarism in the extreme. This time Prime Minister said enough is enough, and this explains our rationale for the visit. Terrorism is a global cancer. This is troubling the whole world, and I would like to briefly give you the background."
Elaborating on the history of ties between India and Pakistan, he said, "India and Pakistan have fought four conventional wars, many distinguished Indians sitting here in the front, they have seen those times. 48 First War, 65 Second War, 71 Third War, when Bangladesh was created, 99 the Kargil War. These are four conventional wars. Remember one thing, my dear fellow Indians, India was never the aggressor, India only responded. The second thing you all need to understand, we are not against the people of Pakistan, they are fine. All governments, be it the Congress or the BJP or Jawaharlal Nehru or Lal Bahadur Shastri or Indira Gandhi or Dr Manmohan Singh or Atal Bihari Vajpayee, everyone tried to have a peaceful, ultimately, dialogue with them. What happened? terrorism. Narendra Modi ji invited Nawaz Sharif in his swearing-in in 2014. When he had gone to Kabul to inaugurate the parliamentary building constructed with the assistance of India, Nawaz Sharif said, you will be flying over my skies, come, my grandson is getting married, make a stopover. He made a stopover. What happened? Uri happened, Pulwama happened, now Pahalgam."
The Indian delegation, led by Ravi Shankar Prasad, includes BJP MP Daggubati Purandeswari, Samik Bhattacharya, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress MPs Ghulam Ali Khatana and Amar Singh, former Union Minister MJ Akbar, and former Ambassador Pankaj Saran. The delegation arrived in London on Saturday (local time) as part of India's global outreach program to convey the country's firm stance against terrorism.
As many as 26 people were killed and several others were injured in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.