Reacting to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan warning India against any action in the wake of Pulwama terror attack, Pakistani singer-actor Ali Zafar, who has also worked in Bollywood, on Tuesday showed his support and tweeted, "What a speech! @ImranKhanPTI."
Zafar also asked his followers to listen to Imran Khan's speech with open heart and mind devoid of ego, bias or hatred.
Zafar, who made his Bollywood debut with Abhishek Sharma's 2010 film Tere Bin Laden, took to Twitter to share a video of the speech and wrote, Listen with an open heart and mind devoid of ego, bias or hatred. If can't, listen again after a few days in a moment of peace. #love #peace # #humanity #togetherness above all. PM Imran Khan Address To The Nation | Pulwama Attack | 19 Feb 2019 YouTube.
Zafar has also worked in Bollywood films like ˜Mere Brother Ki Dulhan",˜Chashme Baddoor and London, Paris, New York. He last appeared in Gauri Shinde's 2016 film Dear Zindagi.
Zafar's reaction came hours after Imran Khan in a press conference rejected India's accusation of Islamabad having a hand in the Pulwama terror attack, and said his country will retaliate in case India starts a war.
"I have been hearing and seeing on Indian media that their politicians are calling for revenge on Pakistan. If India attacks, then Pakistan will not think but retaliate,” he said.
"Starting a war is in our hands, it is easy. But ending a war, that is not in our hands, and no one knows what will happen.” Khan said.
He also said that New Delhi wants to "remain stuck in the past" and make his country the "whipping boy, again and again", each time an incident happens in Kashmir.
In a video message, Imran Khan made an offer that his country is ready to help India with any investigation it wants carried out regarding the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.
"Any sort of investigation you wish carried out regarding this incident about the involvement of any Pakistani, we are ready. If you have any actionable intelligence that a Pakistani is involved. Give it to us. I guarantee you we will take action... not because we are under pressure, but because they are acting as enemies of Pakistan."
He said if someone is using Pakistan's soil [to carry out terror attacks elsewhere], "it is enmity with us. It is against our interests."
"If you (Indian govt) thinks you will attack us and we will not think of retaliating, we will retaliate. We all know starting a war is in the hands of humans, where it will lead us only God knows. This issue should be solved through dialogue,” Imran Khan said.
Imran said that whenever Pakistan tries to initiate dialogue with India, Delhi's precondition is that terrorism must be talked about.
"We are ready to talk about terrorism. Terrorism is a regional issue [...] we want terrorism in the region to end," he stated. "Pakistan has been the worst affected by terrorism [...] Therefore, we are ready to talk with you."
Khan said that he understood it was India’s election year and the narrative of blaming Pakistan would make it easier to get votes from the masses but he hoped that better sense will prevail and that India would be open to dialogue.
Imran Khan said he had taken some time to respond to India's accusations regarding the Pulwama attack as his country was expecting the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince, who was in Islamabad on a two-day visit from Sunday.
He said New Delhi had accused his country of involvement without any proof.
"First of all, you accused Pakistan. [There was] no evidence. You never thought, 'What would be in it for Pakistan?'," he said. "Would a fool even do such a thing to sabotage his own conference? And even if he [the crown prince] wasn't visiting, what benefit would Pakistan get from it?"
Khan's reaction came days after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. Pakistan-backed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hours after Khan's televised address, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the Pakistani Prime Minister has ignored claims made by Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is based in Pakistan, as well as by the terrorist, who perpetrated Pulwama heinous crime.
Replying to insinuations by the Pakistan government that India's response to the terrorist attack is determined by the forthcoming General Election, the MEA spokesperson said, âIndia rejects this false allegation. India's democracy is a model for the world which Pakistan would never understand.
The MEA added, "We demand Pakistan to stop misleading the international community and take credible and visible action against the perpetrators of Pulwama terrorist attack and other terrorists and terror groups operating from areas under their control".
In response to Pakistan Prime Minister Khan on Tuesday promising action if actionable intelligence was provided by India about its links to Pulwama terror attack, the MEA further said, We are not surprised that the Prime Minister of Pakistan refuses to acknowledge the attack on our security forces in Pulwama as an act of terrorism. Prime Minister of Pakistan has neither chosen to condemn this heinous act nor condoled with the bereaved families.
(With inputs from agencies)
