Even a small gesture towards peaceful relations like acknowledging Pakistan’s hospitality comes at a cost in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s India, locked in a tit-for-tat escalation with its neighbor over Kashmir unrest.
Appreciation for Pakistani hospitality during a regional conference has landed Indian actress Ramya in trouble.
A sedition case against the actress and ex-parliamentarian Ramaya speaks volumes about how right wing Indian political parties are whipping up jingoism.
The popular actress who returned from Pakistan last week after attending the first SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference in Islamabad told a women’s ralley in Karnatka that Pakistan was not quite the hell as Indian Defense Minister, Manohar Parrikar had claimed.
The conference was held from August 15 to 17 and attended by young parliamentarians from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and the host Pakistan.
The candid remarks did not please the Hindutva-following Bhartiya Janata Party and other hawks in its militant wings and a right wing lawyer registered a civil case against Ms. Ramya under IPC sections 124(A) and 511 — the first one is to do with sedition.
According to reports appearing in Indian newspapers, the actress has refused to apologize for her pro-Pakistan remarks. “I respectfully disagree, but Pakistan is not hell,” the 33-year-old movie star and former Congress MP said.
Ms. Ramya said she would not apologize as she had no reason to, and Pakistan was a good host.
“I don’t have any ego at all and in any given incident I would have apologized, but if I do it in this case, the larger cause we’re fighting for would go,” the actress said.
“It’s really sad that there is such a situation in the country today. Politicians want to polarize and spread hatred. Just because borders separate us we shouldn’t hate others,” she told Times Now.
Indian Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi has stepped up tirade against Pakistan and in an Independence Day speech did not address the abysmal human rights situation in Indian controlled Kashmir territory of the disputed region, where more than 70 civilian protesters have been killed.
Instead Modi said the people of Balochistan – the Pakistani province with a low-intensity insurgency – have thanked him for raising the issue, a statement which, Congress leaders said indicated Indian admission of involvement in Balochistan. The United States has refused to back Modi’s stance on Balochistan, stressing the province is part of Pakistan.
