New Delhi [India], April 24 (ANI): Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Virendra Sachdeva was briefly “detained” by police officials on Thursday after the party launched a protest in the national capital against the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. After being released from detention, Sachdeva said that “Pakistan-backed terrorism must come to an end.”
Earlier today, BJP leaders, along with members of the Anti-Terror Action Forum, protested near the Pakistan High Commission to denounce the attack.
Visuals from the protest showed people carrying placards with the message “Pakistan murdabad” (Down with Pakistan) and “Aatankwad ke aage nahi jhukenge” (Will not bow down before terrorism). The protests come a day after the Central government announced the reduction of diplomatic presence at both Indian and Pakistani High Commissions to 30 officials each.
A video released by the office of the Delhi BJP president showed multiple security personnel removing the party leader from the protest site. According to sources, the police gave multiple warnings to evacuate the area near the High Commission, but the protestors did not budge.
“The police are doing their work, but there is a rage rampant throughout the country… Pakistan-backed terrorism should end. Pakistan should get an appropriate response,” Sachdeva told ANI.
Multiple leaders of the BJP, including Delhi Assembly MLA Satish Upadhyay and former Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, were also present during the protest.
Harsh Vardhan called for international action, urging the United Nations and the global community to declare Pakistan a terrorist state.
“The BJP in Delhi is expressing the sentiments that are in the hearts of the 140 crore people of India today. We assure PM Modi that we stand with him. It is our demand from the UN and the international community that Pakistan should be declared a state which supports terrorism,” Vardhan told ANI.
At the same time, BJP MLA from Malviya Nagar, Satish Upadhyay, underlined the “anger in the hearts of people,” and called the steps of suspending the Indus Water treaty and declaring certain Pakistan High Commission officers as ‘Persona non Grata’ as a “diplomatic surgical strike on Pakistan.”
Following the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Ministry of External Affairs announced a series of strong measures in response, including the abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty “with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irreversibly abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.”
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960, following nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan, with the assistance of the World Bank, which is also a signatory. Eugene Black, a former president of the World Bank, initiated the talks.
Recognised as one of the most successful international treaties, it has endured frequent tensions, including conflict, and has provided a framework for irrigation and hydropower development for over 50 years.
The Treaty allocates the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India. At the same time, the Treaty allows each country specific uses of the rivers allocated to the other. The treaty allocates 20 per cent of the water from the Indus River System to India, with the remaining 80 per cent allocated to Pakistan.
Apart from this measure, the government announced the closure of the Attari ICP, cancellation of SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme visas for Pakistani nationals, and reduction of diplomatic presence at both Indian and Pakistani High Commissions to 30 officials each by May 1. (ANI)