KARACHI: “Contempt” is the word that sums up the reaction of responsible political quarters [here] to the statement made by the Bharati Minister for Rehabilitation, Mr Ajit Prasad Jain, in his country’s Parliament that: “If Pakistan does not come to her senses we shall have to do something to make her realise she must also behave in a civilized manner.”

“It is like Satan sermonizing a saint” — was one ... comment. It was pointed out that the Bharat Government’s attitude to … evacuee property has ... been one of ... deliberate disregard of all Indo-Pakistan Agreements, so much so that after having ... waited nearly three years for good sense … in New Delhi the Pakistan Government … brought the Pakistan Evacuee Law into line with those … in Bharat. But since then the Bharat Government had taken another unilateral step by their latest legislation enabling them to declare even joint stock companies as evacuee property.

…[T]he language used ... is being described in Karachi as “befitting more the gutter or slum dwellers than the floor of a Parliament or persons who claim to possess any degree of culture and refinement”.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2026