After Video Posted By Swarajya Journalist Goes Viral, Pakistani Minister Pulled Up For Anti-Hindu Speech

On 4 March, Swarajya published a report on anti-Hindu remarks and speeches by several ministers of the Imran Khan government in Pakistan after the deadly Pulwama terror attack.

The report highlighted how, at a time when Imran Khan is being hailed as a “peacemaker” and his name is even being pushed for Nobel peace prize, his own ministers are indulging in rabid hate speeches against Hindus and India without being reined in.

In the report, Swarajya mentioned anti-Hindu statements by Pakistan’s Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan who openly called for Ghazwa-e-Hind; Pakistani Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed who declared that no bells would sound in Indian temples, and Provincial Minister of Punjab for Information and Culture Fayaz-ul-Hasan Chohan who derogatorily called Hindus “cow urine drinkers” and “idol worshippers”.

Later the author of the Swarajya report posted a video of Chohan’s hate speech on Twitter this Monday (4 March).

In the video, Chohan can be heard saying, “O cow urine drinkers, we are Muslims. We are under the banner of valour of the likes of Maula Ali's and Shaheed-e-Karbala Hussein Ibn-e-Sali, you are not. Don't live in the belief that you are seven times our size as you don't have what we do. O idol worshippers, you cannot have the valour we do...”

Notably, Chohan made the speech in Lahore on 24 February - ten days after Pulwama attack - but was ignored in the Pakistani media and political circles. It was circulated on social media only on 4 March after Swarajya picked it up.

In no time, the video went viral and triggered angry reactions. Among others, the video was shared by political commentator Tarek Fateh and Pakistani human rights activist Kapil Dev, who pointed out that there were millions of Hindus living in Pakistan and even Chohan’s own party had Hindu lawmakers.

Several Pakistani news publications have now reported that on Monday night (4 March), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government officially condemned the hate speech.

Party leader Naeemul Haque, who is special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, tweeted that:

Condemnation has also come from Shireen Mazari and Asad Umar, the federal ministers of human rights and finance in the Imran Khan government.

Asad Umar tweeted that:

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari also slammed Chohan and tweeted:

However, not everyone is buying the condemnation issued by the party. Naila Inayat, a journalist, tweeted:

Meanwhile, under fire from his own party as well as the opposition in Pakistan, Chohan has come up with a rather lame response.

Pakistan’s Samaa TV has reported that he has ‘apologised’ for hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community but claimed that his comment was not directed at Hindus but Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

"I was referring to Narendra Modi, RAW and India media," he said, as per Samaa TV.