Talking about peace with India treated as crime in Pakistan: Himanta

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday claimed that talking about peace with India is "treated as a crime" in Pakistan, whereas in India, dialogue is "tolerated, debated and even promoted on mainstream platforms".

"To those in India who continue to preach 'Aman ki Asha' without grasping the ground reality -- understand this: In Pakistan, talking about peace with India is treated as a crime. In India, talking about peace with Pakistan is tolerated, debated -- even promoted on mainstream platforms," Sarma posted on X.

"Romanticising Pakistan while enjoying Indian freedom is not idealism -- it is ignorance at best, hypocrisy at worst and a betrayal of your own motherland," he added.

The chief minister listed how Pakistan handles pro-India voices through surveillance and profiling, censorship and takedowns, legal intimidation, arrests and torture, forced disappearances and social boycott and threats.

Regarding surveillance and profiling, Sarma alleged that every post, tweet, or article with pro-India sentiment is tracked by Pakistan's intelligence agencies, especially the ISI, with students, activists, and journalists routinely placed on watchlists.

He alleged that Pakistan resorts to censorship and takedowns with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) actively blocking or removing content deemed favourable to India.

"Even hashtags promoting peace or dialogue are erased without explanation," he claimed.

Regarding legal intimidation, Sarma alleged that under Pakistan's draconian cybercrime law PECA, people are arrested for expressing anything seen as "pro-India".

Vague charges like "anti-state" and "glorifying the enemy" are used to silence voices of reason, he added.

Citizens have been picked up by intelligence agencies, tortured, and jailed without trial -- often for something as harmless as a poem, a peace appeal, or a balanced article, Sarma alleged.

Regarding forced disappearances, the chief minister alleged that dozens -- especially Baloch, Pashtun, and Sindhi activists -- have "vanished without a trace for expressing support for India or challenging Pakistan's military narrative".

Families wait for years, with no answers and no justice, he added.

Sarma alleged that Pakistan also resorts to social boycott and threats and those who speak about peace or acknowledge India's achievements are ostracised, branded traitors, and often threatened by extremist elements.

The Assam chief minister has been regularly posting against Pakistan on social media since the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 in which 26 tourists were killed.