Proud of Pakistan armed forces: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said he is proud of the armed forces that responded to Indian aggression across the Line of Control (LoC) in Balakot with maturity which will be remembered by India.

Addressing the special ceremony here to commemorate the first anniversary of Pakistan’s responsible and resolute response to Indian aggression last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the world community to take notice of the Hindutva ideology of India that was based on hatred and racial superiority against minorities before it was too late, as things would get worse from here onward.

In attendance were the top leadership of the armed forces and members of the federal cabinet, diplomats and members of the parliament. The prime minister said Pakistan was aware through intelligence reports that India planned to show some form of belligerence following the Pulwama attack in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

The prime minister said, “We were ready and Pakistan’s entire response to Indian bombing within its territory was that of a mature country and the Pakistan armed forces had acted with restraint in response to India’s moves while the Pakistani media displayed maturity.”

In contrast, he pointed out that the Indian media and politicians were beating the drums of war and acted with immaturity. "We could have panicked and responded to the Indian bombing on the spot. But we waited, realised the next day that there had been no casualties and then responded accordingly," he recalled.

He said that things did not become worse because of the Pakistani nation’s maturity and said it identify a nation, as to how it would behave in a crisis and it was like grace under pressure. He vowed to make Pakistan a great country.

The prime minister spoke in Urdu and English language to address the diplomatic community present on the occasion and the international community. He lauded the political parties in the National Assembly for being on one page in the wake of the Pakistan-India tensions despite their differences. Imran Khan said that India today had set out on a very dangerous path from where it was very difficult to return and reverse the things they had done.

Referring to several happenings in different parts of the world, including Nazi Germany, Rwanda, Myanmar and then Bosnia, he said history showed that only bloodshed followed the kind of racist, totalitarian and fascist RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) ideology adopted by India. He continued that the Hindutva philosophy prevailing in India was spreading hatred against Muslims and Christians and its next target would be other Indian minorities.

Imran Khan warned that there could be very serious consequences of marginalising such a huge minority of over 500 million people in India. “India is now trapped," he emphasised. He pointed out that he did not see how this was going to stop from where the Modi government had gone.

“If they take back, there will be reaction from the ranks of these extremist RSS groups, same extremists, who had assassinated Mahatima Gandhi for being too soft on the Muslims. “Therefore, I feel that the world community must take notice or if they don’t act right now, at least they should observe what is going on,” he said.

Imran Khan said that the extremist Indian media had criticised the United States President Donald Trump for praising Pakistan during his recent visit to India but said that it reflected Pakistan's current standing in the international community. He noted that one would never have thought that US President would go to India, with which, the kind of relations they had, the way he used words for Pakistan. On the domestic front, the prime minister said the country would see things improve because the entire difficult period had passed.

The prime minister said the RSS ideology of Indian government of Modi takes inspiration from Nazi ideals of racist superiority and hate for followers of other religions. He noted that more than eight million Kashmiris were virtual hostage with communication blockade and essential freedoms compromised by the 0.8 million Indian troops.

In the end, he again paid tributes to the armed forces, the political leadership in the National Assembly the way, the crisis was handled. He said he was proud as a Pakistani on the nation, the way it had wriggled out of the crisis last year. He recalled the air chief informed about the Indian aggression at 3:00am and they waited and it was found there were no causalities on Pakistani side. Pakistan responded accordingly then.

Prior to that he said the army chief and the air chief were absolutely not worried and he was also not worried on seeing them. He said the way the nation reacted to the Indian aggression was acknowledged by the world and the setting free the Indian pilot was also a symbol of a responsible country.