The scion of Pakistan's first political family, 25-year old Bilwal Bhutto Zardari's fulmination over Kashmir have enlivened memories of his grandfather Zulfiqar Bhutto, who had committed to eat grass and fight a war of thousand years to liberate Kashmir. Son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, the oxford returned Bilwal is president of secular Pakistan People's Party(PPP), known in the West as having liberal, moderate outlook and also believed as the custodian of democracy in Pakistan.
The third generation Bhutto declared that he will take back every inch of Kashmir. He means Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir is the staple of populism of many Pakistan leaders, and the Bhuttos have turned it into a theatrical declamation.
Addressing party workers in Multan region in Punjab on Friday, Bilawal, the 'Gen-Next' politician of Pakistan, had said his PPP would get back entire Kashmir from India. "I will take back Kashmir, all of it, and I will not leave behind a single inch of it because, like the other provinces, it belongs to Pakistan," said the scion of highly influential Bhutto family. When Bilawal made these remarks, he was flanked by former prime ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Asharaf.
Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit said that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is settled and that the state is an integral part of India. BJP's Subrahmanian Swamy dismissed Bilawal rant as "an immature comment". "In 1971 we could have finished off West Pakistan but we decided not to finish the identity of Pakistan. So if this kind of talks takes place and especially on a matter which is legally settled. When the Instrument of Accession was signed, it was final," he added. India also reacted officially, saying the statement was far from reality and reminded young Bhutto that the integrity and unity of the country was "non negotiable".
"We are in the process of looking forward and looking forward does not mean that our borders will be changed. We made it very clear that as far as we are concerned, the integrity and unity of India is non negotiable," Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin said. He said the comment was "far from reality which takes us back into the past century".
