Suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has recently gained a lot of media coverage after his one-by-one controversial or what should be termed as pro-Pakistani remarks. Hitting it back on the same rhythm was his remark at the Karachi Literature Festival on Tuesday. In the event, he said that he receives “much more hatred in India” than the love showered on him by people in Pakistan. He claimed that people applaud him in Pakistan because of his peace talks.
While talking to ANI he said, “Thousands of people, whom I don’t know, hug me, wish me. I receive much more hatred in India than the love I receive in Pakistan. So I am happy to be here. They are clapping for me because I speak of peace.”
He called for an “uninterrupted and uninterruptible” talk between India and Pakistan. He stated that this would be a great resolve to deal with longstanding issues. Aiyar also had a talk with the Pakistani news channel Geo News TV. He expressed to them his deep regret on New Delhi not reciprocating to Islamabad’s push to resolve issues through dialogue.
He was quoted as saying, “And I am very proud and half very sad that this sentence of these three words has been accepted as Pakistan policy, but has not been accepted as Indian policy.”
Aiyar has been repetitive in taking controversial jibes on India and Pakistan long-standing issue. Congress had suspended him for “neech” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Gujarat Assembly elections campaign. He later apologized for his statement and blamed his poor command over Hindi for the misunderstanding.