Members of India’s ruling party set fire to effigies of Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto.
Following a heated conversation between the two rivals at the UN in New York, Pakistan was referred to as the “epicenter of terrorism” by Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, who urged Pakistan to “try to be a good neighbor.” In response, India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi was called the “butcher of Gujarat” by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto. This was in reference to the fact that more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002 while Modi was the state’s chief minister. He was accused of covering up the violence.
In response to the remarks, hundreds of supporters of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protested outside Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi on Friday. On Saturday, the BJP promised additional protests around the country, and in the towns of Bhubaneswar, Amritsar, and Ranchi, protesters burned effigies of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari while yelling slogans. The opinions expressed by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were described as “a new low even for Pakistan” by the Indian foreign ministry on Friday.
