Former Pakistan Foreign Minister and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari faced an embarrassing moment at a recent United Nations press briefing when a journalist publicly fact-checked his allegation that Muslims were being "demonised" in India following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Bhutto, who is currently leading a parliamentary delegation to the United States to present Islamabad’s narrative on rising regional tensions, reiterated Pakistan’s position on Kashmir and accused India of politicising the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam — which killed 26 civilians — to vilify Indian Muslims.
However, his sweeping generalisation was quickly challenged. A journalist attending the briefing pushed back, citing personal observations. “You said the recent terrorist attack in Kashmir is being used as a political tool to demonise Muslims in India. But, sir, I’ve watched briefings on both sides. As far as I recall, there were Muslim Indian military officers conducting the briefings on the Indian side,” the journalist said.
The reference was to Indian Army’s Operation Sindoor briefings led by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, a Muslim officer who gained national recognition alongside Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
Bhutto, visibly unsettled, offered no defence and merely conceded, “As far as the operations are concerned, you’re absolutely right.”
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam attack, striking nine terror infrastructure targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The operation triggered four days of fierce cross-border clashes, which ended on May 10 after both sides reportedly agreed to cease hostilities. India has maintained that the intensity of its counter-offensive forced Pakistan to seek an end to the fighting.
The Pakistani delegation’s visit comes amid New Delhi’s parallel diplomatic outreach, where an all-party Indian parliamentary team — including opposition leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Asaduddin Owaisi — is touring various countries to present India’s position post-Pahalgam.