New Delhi, Nov.19: Former Youth Congress president and Chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF), Maninder Singh Bitta, has said that Pakistan would do well to set its own house in order, rather than using its propagandist machinery to cast aspersions on happenings in India.

In an interview to ANI, Bitta said that the anti-India propaganda being broadcast by Pakistan Radio through its Punjabi Durbar programme, was a direct interference in India’s internal affairs, which should be stopped forthwith. Such programmes would not affect India’s secular credentials or its international image, he added.
 
“Pakistan should first tackle its own matters. There is no need of interfering in our internal matters. If there is any problem in our country, our government will sort them out,” Bitta said.
 
When asked whether Pakistan is indulging in a double face act vis-à-vis India, Bitta said there were key elements in Pakistani society that were spearheading a campaign to destabilise India, and this was not a new phenomenon, but something that was happening for decades.
 
“Pakistan has always raised the issue of Kashmir in wrong manner. They tried to reactivate Khalistan in Punjab (1980s). Pakistan is responsible for the killings of thousands of innocent civilians and security forces in India. They are responsible for the killing of Indira Gandhi (1984) and Sardar Beant Singh (1995). The ISI has always tried to create problems and controversies in our border states (Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kashmir). It is responsible for promoting the concept of Khalistan, not the people of Punjab.
 
Bitta also accused the Pakistanis of trying to spread an atmosphere of divisiveness in Indian society, notably among the rural folk who were more than keen to meet up with their brethren across the border, but were often dissuaded and discouraged by wanton acts of terror and violence.

“Hindu and Sikh communities in India have very cordial relations. Pakistan always tries to divide these two communities through its terror tactics. But the brotherhood between Hindu and Sikh people has always strengthened. Hindus, Sikhs and Punjabis are one. All these controversies are the planned tactics of Pakistan through their terrorists like Paramjeet Singh and Wadhawa Singh Babber. But they have failed in their ill motives,” Bitta claimed.  
 
Responding to the charge that there is no value for democracy in India, Bitta said: “There is no better democracy anywhere in the world than in India. Pakistan is not having any democracy. Dictators like Mushraff rule that state. In India, there was an emergency (1975), but for very short span of time and due to some specific conditions. You have seen the fates of Ayub Khan (1969) and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (1978-79). In India, people have the right to raise their voices against the government unlike in Pakistan. We are a great democratic nation.”
 
When asked whether Pakistan can do anything to disturb India during its emergency, the AIATF leader replied in the affirmative.
 
“Yes! Pakistan has already started creating trouble in Jammu and Kashmir. In Punjab, they had triggered blast at the in Srinagar Cinema. To divert the mind of Pakistani people from the upcoming elections in January, Mushraff can do anything,” he said.
 
He further said that India would do well to be cautious about its security, and urged the country’s intelligence agencies to divert their attention from spying on opposition leaders.
 
He ruled out Pakistan Radio propaganda having any impact on India.
 
“No, there would not be any effect of that propaganda. All the people of India, whether it's Hindu or Muslim or Sikh, each and everyone is ready to face Pakistan's tactics to avoid creating a division among them,” he said. (ANI)