Hitting back: Delhi outraged over NA resolution on Afzal Guru
Indian MPs accuse Pakistan of meddling in their country’s internal affairs.
File photo of Mohammad Afzal Guru. PHOTO: AFP
NEW DELHI:
Indian MPs reacted with outrage on Friday to a resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on the execution of Afzal Guru.
Guru was hanged last month after he was accused of being behind the Indian parliament bomb attack in 2001.
Members of the Indian parliament expressed anger and accused Pakistan of attempting to interfere in its neighbour’s internal affairs. The two houses of parliament passed unanimous resolutions and MPs spoke harshly about Pakistan’s resolution passed on Thursday.
“The House rejects interference in the internal affairs of India and calls upon the National Assembly of Pakistan to desist from such acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements,” the resolution stated.
It added: “The House reiterates that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir including the territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan is and shall always be an integral part of India. Any attempt from any quarter to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely and with complete unity of our nation.”
The leader of the upper house Arun Jaitley, speaking on India-Pakistan relations, said, “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has in the past been very magnanimous to say that he is willing to walk an extra mile. After a series of these provocations, we would like to urge him that [he should] forget a mile, he should now forget walking even an extra yard.”
Expressing his verdict on the matter, Jaitley said that since Pakistan was showing sympathy for terrorists attacking India, a structured dialogue between the two countries should end.
BJP slams resolution
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party also condemned the National Assembly’s resolution and demanded that diplomatic relations with Islamabad be scaled down, The Press Trust of India reported on Friday.
“Pakistan has crossed all limits by passing a resolution on hanging of Afzal Guru. Pakistan has no right to interfere in the internal issues of India and the government should register its strong protest with Pakistan as well as in international community,” BJP President Rajnath Singh said.
“PM should back our High Commissioner from Pakistan. Diplomatic relations should be scaled down and confidence building measures should be suspended. Government should also pass a resolution against the move,” he said.
(with additional input from news wires)
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2013.
Indian MPs reacted with outrage on Friday to a resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on the execution of Afzal Guru.
Guru was hanged last month after he was accused of being behind the Indian parliament bomb attack in 2001.
Members of the Indian parliament expressed anger and accused Pakistan of attempting to interfere in its neighbour’s internal affairs. The two houses of parliament passed unanimous resolutions and MPs spoke harshly about Pakistan’s resolution passed on Thursday.
“The House rejects interference in the internal affairs of India and calls upon the National Assembly of Pakistan to desist from such acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements,” the resolution stated.
It added: “The House reiterates that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir including the territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan is and shall always be an integral part of India. Any attempt from any quarter to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely and with complete unity of our nation.”
The leader of the upper house Arun Jaitley, speaking on India-Pakistan relations, said, “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has in the past been very magnanimous to say that he is willing to walk an extra mile. After a series of these provocations, we would like to urge him that [he should] forget a mile, he should now forget walking even an extra yard.”
Expressing his verdict on the matter, Jaitley said that since Pakistan was showing sympathy for terrorists attacking India, a structured dialogue between the two countries should end.
BJP slams resolution
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party also condemned the National Assembly’s resolution and demanded that diplomatic relations with Islamabad be scaled down, The Press Trust of India reported on Friday.
“Pakistan has crossed all limits by passing a resolution on hanging of Afzal Guru. Pakistan has no right to interfere in the internal issues of India and the government should register its strong protest with Pakistan as well as in international community,” BJP President Rajnath Singh said.
“PM should back our High Commissioner from Pakistan. Diplomatic relations should be scaled down and confidence building measures should be suspended. Government should also pass a resolution against the move,” he said.
(with additional input from news wires)
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2013.