Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has threatened that blood would flow in rivers if water is stopped, in a sharp response to India's decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after the Pahalgam terror attack.

"The Indus is ours and will remain ours - either our water will flow through it, or their blood," the former foreign minister was quoted as saying by The News on Friday while addressing a public rally in the Sukkur area of his home Sindh province.

The Indus flows through the province, and the Indus Valley Civilisation city of Mohenjo-Daro flourished on its banks. And Bilawal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed India is heir to a civilisation thousands of years old, "But that civilisation lies in Mohenjo-daro, in Larkana. We are its true custodians, and we will defend it."

Bilawal said that Modi cannot sever the aeons-old bond between the people of Sindh and the Indus, adding that "the Indian government has cast its eyes on Pakistan's water, and the situation demands unity among all four provinces to defend and protect their water."

He said that neither the people of Pakistan nor the international community would tolerate Modi's "warmongering" or any attempts to divert the Indus waters away from Pakistan.

"We will send a message to the world that robbery on the Sindhu won't be accepted."

The PPP chairman urged his supporters to prepare for a resolute struggle to defend their river from Indian aggression.

Bilawal, who has also served as Pakistan's youngest foreign minister, said the country and its people condemned the recent terrorist attack in India because Pakistanis themselves remain victims of terrorism.

India on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic ties with Islamabad. That call was taken by India after the attack on Tuesday in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In response to India's decision to suspend the IWT, Pakistan on Thursday threatened to suspend the Simla Agreement and put other bilateral accords with India on hold. Pakistan also suspended all trade, closed its airspace for Indian airlines and said any attempt to divert the water meant for it under the Indus Water Treaty will be considered an Act of War.

The Simla Agreement was signed in 1972. The treaty, signed in Shimla, was inked by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bilawal's grandfather.

Also, the PPP chairman announced on Friday that the federal government has now agreed to subject the construction of the controversial six new canals to consensus among all provinces.

"I want to share that the federal government has decided that no new canals will be built without consensus in the CCI (Council of Common Interests)," he said.

CCI is a high-powered inter-provincial body to tackle controversies between provinces.

 

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Bhopal/Indore, May 13 (PTI): Madhya Pradesh Minister and BJP leader Vijay Shah has sparked a major controversy with objectionable comments that appeared to be directed at Col Sofia Qureshi, whom he tried to project as a "sister of terrorists."

Under severe flak, Shah said if anyone is hurt by his statement, he is ready to apologise ten times, adding that he respects Colonel Qureshi more than his sister.

The Congress has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Shah from the Madhya Pradesh cabinet.

Colonel Qureshi had conducted regular press briefings, sharing details of the 'Operation Sindoor' launched by Indian armed forces to strike terrorists, joined by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

"Those people (terrorists) who had wiped out the sindoor (vermilion) of our sisters (in the Pahalgam terror attack)..We avenged these 'kate-pite' people by sending their sister to destroy them," Shah said.

"They (terrorists) killed our Hindu brothers by making them remove their clothes. PM Modi ji responded by sending their (terrorists') sister in an Army plane to strike them in their houses. They (terrorists) made our sisters widows, so Modiji sent the sister of their community to strip them and teach them a lesson", the BJP leader said while addressing a gathering in Ramkunda village near Indore.

He said, "Revenge was taken for the honour of our country (India), respect, and for the (slain) husbands of our sisters by sending a sister from your (terrorists') community to Pakistan".

The tribal welfare minister clarified that his remarks should not be construed otherwise.

Shah's remarks drew wide-scale condemnation, with Congress demanding his immediate dismissal from the MP cabinet.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said Shah, who made 'derogatory' remarks in reference to Colonel Sofia Qureshi, should be dismissed immediately.

"A minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has made a very derogatory, shameful and cheap remark about our brave daughter Colonel Sofia Qureshi. The terrorists of Pahalgam wanted to divide the country, but the country was united during the entire 'Operation Sindoor' to give a befitting reply to the terrorists," Kharge posted on X.

He alleged that the BJP-RSS harbours an anti-women mentality.

"First, the wife of the naval officer martyred in Pahalgam was trolled on social media, then the daughter of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was harassed, and now the BJP ministers are making such indecent comments about our brave woman Sophia Qureshi," Kharge said and appealed to PM Modi to immediately sack Shah.

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari shared the video of Shah on X and asked whether the BJP agrees with the minister's "low thinking"?

The MP Congress Committee alleged that Shah's "indecent' and hate-filled" statement is not just a personal attack, but an open attack on India's military dignity, national unity, and women's honour.

Amid the raging controversy, the BJP's Madhya Pradesh general secretary Hitanand Sharma summoned Shah to the state headquarters in Bhopal.

According to sources, Sharma reprimanded the minister, who also met the state BJP president, Vishnu Dutt Sharma.

Speaking to reporters, Shah sought to attribute the intemperate remarks to his "disturbed" state of mind in view of the brutal killing of innocent people in Pahalgam by terrorists.

He claimed many members of his family have a military background and many were martyred.

"Sister Sophia has brought glory to India by rising above caste and religion. She is more respected than our own sister. I salute her for her service to the nation.

"We cannot even think of insulting her in our dreams. Still, if my words have hurt society and religion, then I am ready to apologise ten times,'' he added.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Manoj Shukla and the party workers blackened the nameplate of Shah at his bungalow and raised slogans seeking his resignation.