Barrackpore (West Bengal) [India], April 7 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday hit back strongly at Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's recent remarks related to striking Kolkata, stressing that he should not give "such provocative statement" because they suffered the consequences when Pakistan was divided into two parts.
Speaking to ANI, Singh further said that only the god would know how many parts Pakistan would be divided if "they cast an eye on Bengal."
"Pakistan's Defence Minister should not have given such a provocative statement. 55 years ago, they suffered the consequences when Pakistan was divided into two parts. If they try to cast an eye on Bengal, only God knows how many parts Pakistan will be divided into this time," said Rajnath Singh.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday reportedly said that Islamabad would retaliate by striking Kolkata in the event of any future misadventure by India.
The incident also drew criticism of the government from TMC as party MP Abhishek Banerjee on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of not being able to "muster the courage" to condemn Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's reported open threat to strike Kolkata.
Addressing a public gathering here, Banerjee said, "The self-proclaimed '56-inch' Prime Minister and his Home Minister are so busy with vote prachar that they have no time to respond to direct threats of external aggression against Bengal. Pakistan's Defence Minister has openly threatened to strike Kolkata, yet neither Narendra Modi nor Amit Shah could muster the courage to condemn this grave attack on a state of the Indian Union and India's sovereignty."
"Either the lives of the people of Bengal simply don't matter to them, or they are too gutless and cowardly to take a stand. If they have even an ounce of courage, let them give free rein to the Central Forces, BSF, and the Indian Army to reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Will Narendra Modi dare? Will Amit Shah dare? Will Rajnath Singh dare?" he added.
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