Azad Jammu and Kashmir capital Muzaffarabad is not the Gaza Strip where India can dare kill people mercilessly by following in the footsteps of Israel that has killed nearly 20,000 people in little more than two months.

Yes, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was spot on when he reiterated Pakistan’s principled position and support for the Kashmir issue. According to him, no one can dare cast an evil eye on Pakistan.

He has made it clear to India that Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be misconstrued as weakness or hesitation to face any aggression or belligerence.

“Pakistan is not a war-mongering nation. But if anyone thinks that we are weak, shying away or hesitating, they should remove this misunderstanding. Muzaffarabad is not Gaza and New Delhi is not Tel Aviv...No one can dare kill 4,000 children here,” he reportedly said in an interaction with the students of different colleges and universities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir during his two-day visit.

I commend the prime minister for squashing some rumors in this regard without any loss of time. In other words, a conspiracy has been nipped in the bud by the prime minister. He’s cent percent right.

India can never replicate Israeli atrocities in Azad Jammu and Kashmir for a variety of reasons. And one of the reasons is a nuclear-armed Pakistan. By overtly siding with Israel, India has jettisoned decades of Middle East statesmanship.

According to The Wire, “Clearly, it suits the BJP to conflate the rampant anti-Muslim climate that it is creating in India with the portrayal of the latest conflict in Gaza as Hamas’ handiwork.”

Fully supported by right wing media, the BJP coalition government will, in my view, surely further marginalize monitories, particularly Muslims, in coming weeks and months.

Nafees Burki,

Islamabad

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023