Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has threatened to wipe out Pakistan with the “Mother of Nuclear Bombs.”
Modi, whose BJP draws support on several extremist groups, is bidding for reelection in the ongoing elections, and made these remarks in his State of Gujarat – which was the scene of massacre of thousands of Indian Muslims in 2002.
Modi is often blamed for enabling the 2002 killing of Muslims in Gujarat and accusations continue to dog him.
But Modi’s latest threat against nuclear rival Pakistan came on India’s national day of peace.
“We have the mother of nuclear bombs. I decided to tell [Pakistan], do whatever you want to do but we will retaliate,” he said, upping the jingoistic climate in the country.
Modi repeated his claim for conducting an air strike inside Pakistan after the Pulwama attack, which New Delhi says was perpetrated by JeM.
“Earlier, terrorists from Pakistan would come here and go back after conducting an attack. Pakistan would threaten us, saying it has the nuclear bomb and will press the button… In the past our people would weep, go around the world saying Pakistan did this, did that. It is now Pakistan’s turn to weep, ” he was.
Modi and extremist groups behind the ruling BJP have been whipping up hysteria against Pakistan.
The Indian election is taking place in seven phases over six weeks in the country of 1.3 billion people. Some 900 million people are registered to vote for candidates to fill 543 seats in India’s lower house of Parliament, also called Lok Sabha. Voting concludes on May 19 and counting is scheduled for May 23.
Modi has also faced UN scrutiny and international condemnation for using lethal force against the people of Jammu and Kashmir seeking freedom.
Tensions between Pakistan and India soared in February and March over Pulwama attacks, which killed around 40 Indian security personnel in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region. After India’s aborted incursion into Pakistan, the Pakistani air force shot down an Indian plane on the Line of Control in Kashmir and captured a pilot.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan returned the Indian pilot as a peace gesture but Modi has refused to reciprocate and continues his inflammatory rhetoric against Islamabad while his groups target Indian Muslims and the people of Kashmir with deadly violence.
