Bollywood actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: Actor-turned-BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty on Tuesday reacted sharply to Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's comment on the Indus Indus Waters Treaty, and warned that India will respond with a series of Brahmos missiles.
His fiery retort was also accompanied by a bizarre one: a dam will be built, and 140 crore Indians will relieve themselves there before that reservoir will be opened to unleash a tsunami in the neighbouring nation.
Chakraborty, however, emphasised that he had nothing against the ordinary people of Pakistan who are peace-loving and do not want war and that his ire was directed only at the Pakistani establishment.
Speaking at a ceremony at the shrine of Sindhi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai on Monday, Bilawal said, "If war is waged, then… we will send a message to the Modi government that we do not retreat, we do not bow down, and if you dare think about launching an attack on the Indus River, then the people of every province of Pakistan will be ready to confront you." When reporters sought his response on this, Chakraborty said that war mongers in the western neighbour will face consequences for any misadventure.
"People of Pakistan don't want war, I believe. But if such words and rhetoric continue to be made, and we lose our cool, we will dispatch one Brahmos after another to strike them," he said.
When asked about the Pakistani government’s threat to unleash military attacks on any dam that India builds on the Indus, Chakraborty added: “We will build a dam where 140 crore of our people will relieve themselves. And once the dam is opened, it will lead to a tsunami without a single shot being fired. I apologise for saying this. These words are only meant for him (Bhutto), not for the people of Pakistan.
A day after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan that included putting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in "abeyance".