Pakistan rejects RSS chief's 'provocative, irresponsible remarks' on partition

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected Hindu hardliner Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s “highly provocative and irresponsible remarks” about the partition.

“This is not the first time that the RSS chief has publicly indulged in such delusional thinking and historical revisionism,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

He said that Pakistan has repeatedly highlighted the threat posed to regional peace and stability by “the toxic mix of the extremist ‘Hindutva’ ideology (Hindu Rashtra) and expansionist foreign policy (Akhand Bharat) being pursued by the ruling RSS-BJP dispensation in India”.

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“In the internal context, this dangerous mindset aims to completely marginalize and dispossess the minorities in India. In the external dimension, it poses an existential threat to all of India’s neighbours in South Asia,” the statement read.

“The world is witness to the systematic usurpation of the rights of minorities, especially Muslims, in India and the unabated repression of Kashmiris in IIOJK. The reckless misadventures of India, including in February 2019, that seriously imperiled regional peace and stability are also in front of the world.”

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The spokesperson said that Pakistan has consistently opposed India’s hegemonic impulses and demonstrated a firm resolve to thwart any aggressive designs. While committed to peace, the people and armed forces of Pakistan are fully capable of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, he reiterated.