Mohammad Kaif slammed Imran Khan for his comment (File)
Highlights
- Mohammad Kaif said Pakistan should not lecture anyone on minority welfare
- He said the number of minorities living in Pakistan dipped drastically
- Pak PM Imran Khan had said he would teach India how to treat minorities
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's comment that he would teach the Narendra Modi government how to treat minorities has received a sharp rebuke from former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif, who said Pakistan was the last country to lecture any country on the matter. Mr Kaif pointed out that since the time of the formation of Pakistan, the number of minorities living in the country has drastically reduced.
"There were around 20% minorities at the time of Partition in Pakistan, less than 2% remain now. On the other hand, minority population has grown significantly in India since Independence. Pakistan is the last country that should be lecturing any country on how to treat minorities," Mohammad Kaif tweeted.
Imran Khan was addressing an event to highlight the 100-day achievements of a provincial government in Lahore when he said his government was taking steps to ensure that religious minorities in Pakistan get their due rights. Referring to Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah's comment that the death of a cow was being given importance over killing of a policeman, Imran Khan said, "We will show the Modi government how to treat minorities... Even in India, people are saying that minorities are not being treated as equal citizens".
Imran Khan was panned in India for his comment. The BJP said on Sunday that Pakistan was 'terroristan' and it need not teach India anything.
On December 3, a senior police officer and a student were shot dead in mob violence in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr after cow carcasses were found.
Reacting on the incident, Mr Shah last week made the comment, adding that the "poison has already spread" and it will be now difficult to contain it.
"It will be very difficult to capture this djinn back into the bottle again. There is complete impunity for those who take law into their own hands...I feel anxious for my children because tomorrow if a mob surrounds them and asks, 'Are you a Hindu or a Muslim?' they will have no answer. It worries me that I don't see the situation improving anytime soon," Mr Shah said.
With inputs from PTI