Sushma discusses 26/11, attacks on Hindus in Pakistan with Malik

New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj on Saturday discussed the alleged atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan and the slow progress of 26/11 cases with Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

"I discussed the persecution of Hindus in Pakistan with the minister, including the recent flight of many Hindu families to India," Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lower House of Parliament, told reporters after the meeting with Malik at her residence.

"The minister said he had asked Pakistan's high commissioner in India to meet these Hindus and verify if their accounts of being persecuted in Pakistan are really true. He has also asked the high commissioner to cooperate with the Indian government in this regard," she said.

Malik told Sushma that the perception was different from reality and the 26/11 trial delay was due to courts.

Sushma Swaraj also spoke to Malik about the delay in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack trials in Pakistan. "I told him that Pakistan was proceeding very slowly on 26/11 and that this was being very negatively received in India," she said, adding, "He said perception was different from reality. The delay, he said, was due to the courts in Pakistan."

Asked if she discussed Malik's statement equating Babri Masjid demolition with 26/11, she said: "He said he had been misquoted and his statement misconstrued by the Indian media."

However, in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, another BJP leader, Arun Jaitley, criticised Malik's statement calling it "unfortunate" and "provocative". "It is strange and unfortunate that Malik, seen to be commenting on cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, spoke in the same breath on domestic developments in India," said Jaitley told reporters.

"Those comments are completely unfortunate, uncalled for and should really had been rebutted by ministers present there," he said.

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