Decision to scrap Art 370 in line with BJP's 'racist ideology', says Pak PM

The decision to scrap Article 370, that conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is in line with the ruling BJP's "racist ideology", Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday while assuring that Pakistan will take up the issue on every international forum to bring it to the notice of global leadership.

"We want the global leadership to take note.. I assure you, my government will raise this issue on every international forum. The Western world does not know what is happening in Kashmir. It is our job to tell the world about their suffering," Khan said during the joint session of Parliament, as cited by Dawn.

Khan said that the war on Kashmir between the two countries will have "grievous consequences" for the entire world.

"They will attack us and we will respond and the war can go both ways [...] But if we fight a war till we shed the last drop of our blood, who will win that war? No one will win it and it will have grievous consequences for the entire world. This is not nuclear blackmail," Khan said.

"What they did in Kashmir is in accordance with their ideology. They have a racist ideology They have violated their own country's laws and international laws to [uphold] their ideology," he added.

Khan also said Pakistan stopped extending offers to hold talks, as India took the country's overtures for peace as a weakness.

"What happened yesterday has only confirmed my suspicion [about India's unwillingness to talk]. This is not a decision they [the BJP] have taken out of the blue. It was part of their election mfesto all along. It is, in fact, ingrained in their ideology that puts Hindus above all other religions and seeks to establish a state that represses all other religious groups."

The Indian government on Monday scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and barred people from the rest of the country from buying property there.

The BJP-led Centre also converted Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory with a legislature, while hiving off Ladakh as a separate Union Territory without legislature.

( With inputs from ANI )