Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said Monday that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) should be wrested back before one can talk of Karachi being part of India. He was responding to remarks by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. Earlier in the day Fadnavis had said that the BJP believes Karachi will be a part of India one day. Sanjay Raut however, laughed off the mere remark.
The remarks by Fadnavis came days after a Shiv Sena worker asked owners of ‘Karachi Sweets’ outlet here to rename it. He justified the demand by calling Pakistan a country of terrorists.
Raut had then said the demand for changing the name is not the official stance of Shiv Sena. He told reporters Monday that the Shiv Sena will welcome Karachi becoming a part of India. However, India should wrest back PoK first before dreaming about Karachi, he stated. “First bring PoK in India, then we will go to Karachi,” the Sena MP added.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Fadnavis was asked about the Sena worker’s demand to rename ‘Karachi Sweets’. “We are the people who believe in akhand bharat (integrated India). We believe Karachi too will be part of India one day,” Fadnavis said.
Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik said his party will welcome if the BJP wants the merger of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to form a single country. “If the Berlin Wall can come down, why can’t these three countries merge? If the BJP wants to form one country by merger of these three countries, then we will welcome it,” Malik told this agency over phone.