ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday responded to India’s latest criticism of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s speech, saying that the masterminds of the Gujarat massacre have escaped justice and “now hold key government positions in India.”
Earlier this week, India’s External Affairs Minister accused Pakistan of “hosting” slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and accused Islamabad of sponsoring cross-border militancy at the UN. In response, Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari referred to Modi as the “butcher of Gujarat” and repeated accusations that New Delhi was suppressing the rights of the people of Kashmir.
Following Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks, India’s Ministry of External Affairs criticized the foreign minister’s “uncivilized outburst,” saying that the comments were a “new low” for Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokesperson responded by saying that India’s comments were an attempt to hide behind “subterfuge and canard” to conceal the realities of the 2002 Gujarat massacre.
“The fact of the matter is that the masterminds of the Gujarat massacre have escaped justice and now hold key government positions in India,” MoFA said in a statement.
The spokesperson was referring to a massacre that occurred during a series of religious riots that flared for two months in Gujarat and killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. Clashes began when a Hindu mob scaled the boundary wall of a housing complex in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city, in February 2002 before torching the homes in which Muslim families were trapped.
Pakistan alleged that India has unleashed Hindu supremacists to exercise cow vigilantism, ransack places of worship, and attack religious congregations.
“The MEA statement is also a reflection of India’s growing frustration over its failure in maligning and isolating Pakistan,” it said.
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars, over the past seven decades, over the disputed territory of Kashmir. The Himalayan territory is claimed in full by India and Pakistan. Both, however, administer parts of the territory.
Pakistan, India continue war of words with ‘terrorism’, ‘Gujarat massacre’ barbs
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Pakistan, India continue war of words with ‘terrorism’, ‘Gujarat massacre’ barbs
- Masterminds of Gujarat massacre have escaped justice, Pakistan says
- India, Pakistan accused each other of sponsoring ‘terrorism’ this week at UN
Pakistan keeps petroleum prices unchanged for next 15 days
- Fuel prices in Pakistan are reviewed every two weeks and are influenced by global oil market trends
- The government had reduced the prices of petrol and diesel at the turn of the year by up to Rs10.28
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has kept the petroleum prices unchanged for the next 15 days, the energy ministry said late Thursday.
The government had reduced the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel at the turn of the year by up to Rs10.28 per liter.
The price of high-speed diesel will remain Rs257 per liter, while motor spirit will continue to sell for Rs253 per liter, according to an energy ministry notification.
“The government has maintained the prices of the petroleum products for the next fortnight, starting from 16th January,” it read.
Fuel prices in Pakistan are reviewed every two weeks and are influenced by global oil market trends, currency movements and changes in domestic taxation. The pricing mechanism passes changes in import costs on to consumers, helping sustain the country’s fuel supply chain.
Petrol is primarily used for private transport, motorcycles, rickshaws and small vehicles, while diesel powers heavy transport used to move goods across the South Asian country.
