‘Terror of fascism, ethnic cleansing’: MJ Akbar likens Pakistan’s extremism to Hitler-era ideology | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Former union minister MJ Akbar on Monday compared Pakistan’s continued support for terrorism to the return of Hitler-era fascism, warning that unless the world recognises this threat, the sacrifices of those who have died fighting terror will be in vain. Akbar is currently in London as part of an all-party delegation.Calling out Pakistan’s violent origins and its sustained use of terror as state policy, Akbar said, “Pakistan was born in violence. It was not born through a popular movement; it was born after the great Calcutta killing of 1946, and it died in 1971 after the great Dhaka killing. Despite its death, it has not withdrawn from its commitment and its policy or violence because, for the ruling class and its elite, it has become genetic.”Drawing parallels to European history, Akbar warned that the terrorism India faces today, particularly in Kashmir and places like Pahalgam, is not ordinary. “This is the terror of fascism. This is the terror of ethnic cleansing. You are in Europe, if Europe doesn’t remember fascism, which continent is going to remember fascism? You have generations here who remember the era of Hitler. This is the return of that era, and we are witnessing it with our own eyes. But unless we understand it ourselves and explain it to others, we will have failed those who gave their lives,” he said.Referencing Mahatma Gandhi’s response to the 1947 tribal invasion of Kashmir by Pakistan-backed forces, Akbar challenged common assumptions about Gandhi’s stance on violence. “About Gandhi Ji, there are many misconceptions. Yes, he was the greatest apostle of nonviolence in the last 2 thousand years. But he was alive on 22nd October (1947) when the history of modern terrorism began with Pakistan sending 5 thousand terrorists across the border to seize Kashmir… Gandhi Ji said that against terrorism, we don’t want nonviolence. The state must stand, the Indian army and every soldier will fight, no Indian soldier will retreat, they will give their lives in the fight against terrorism.”