Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election made headlines across the border in Pakistan and while some, like the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, reacted with hopes of working together to build peace, other commentators expressed scepticism.
Among the latter was Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif, who took on a sarcastic tone to say the people of the country were happy that Modi’s election was a cause of celebration in Pakistan too, because they will not be seen as the only “extremist-loving” country by the world anymore.
“My Pakistani brothers think that while we keep hugging and kissing our Jihadi maulvis and their cousins, we have never voted for them. So now the world should finally understand that while we are totally sharif, India is entirely badmash,” Hanif said in a video log for BBC.
The author of the critically acclaimed A Case of Exploding Mangoes drew parallels between the narrative used to oppress minority groups in both the countries. He also blamed Modi’s supporters for using “telephone screens as weapons” to spread hate.
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