Manama: Workers at Kohinoor and Evershine, two souvenir shops right at the entrance of Bab Al Bahrain, were taken by surprise when Indian parliamentarians made a surprise appearance at this historical market area of Manama Souq.
Kohinoor is owned by an Indian, while Evershine is run by Pakistani workers.
In the middle of hectic meetings in Bahrain around their diplomatic outreach on the April 22 Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, the all-party delegation led by BJP MP Baijayant Jay Panda made a stopover at this iconic area Saturday evening.
Members spoke to a few people, took pictures and moved on.
“It just felt good to see people like (AIMIM leader Asaduddin) Owaisi and I had to click a selfie,” said an Indian worker of Kohinoor.
The Pakistani workers at Evershine looked amused and curious at the same time.
“We are here to work, don’t really know about the politics that is happening back home,” one said.
Both setups usually work very closely with each other.
Against this backdrop, the broader diplomatic mission continued.
The main aim of the all-party delegation, which is one of the seven multi-party groups travelling to 33 global capitals, is to reach out to the international community on Pakistan’s designs and India’s response to terror, especially in view of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, and Operation Sindoor which was subsequently launched in its response.
India wants to tell the Muslim world that it’s not just about a fight between two countries but part of the larger challenge of global terrorism.
That’s why some delegation members are drawing parallels between the ‘takfeeri’ ideology of groups like ISIS, affecting parts of the Muslim world, and the kind of terrorism India is facing.
Takfiri means to declare someone an apostate or an infidel to justify violence.
“There is no difference between these terrorist organisations in Pakistan and the ISIS Takfiri ideology. This we must remember. This is a menace to the whole of humankind and we have to put an end to it…they have used religion to justify the killing of people and the whole world knows that Islam has condemned terrorism,” said All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Owaisi.
“Quran has categorically stated that killing of one innocent person, Quran has not said the killing of one innocent Muslim, it says the killing of one innocent person is like killing of whole humankind,” he added.
In the Muslim world, India is trying to drive the point across that just because Pakistan is a Muslim-majority country, it cannot be absolved from its actions against India.
While engaging with key government and political figures in Middle Eastern countries, the all-party delegation is also making a concerted effort to connect with the strong Indian diaspora to shape the opinion.
“Indian diaspora over the decades has become one of the most influential communities, it represents India’s soft power and we want to explain to them the points that we have so that they help in taking them forward,” said Panda after addressing a gathering at Indian embassy in Bahrain.
Close to 3.5 lakh Indians live in Bahrain, while the number of Pakistanis living and working in this country is around half that number.
The delegation’s mission is to present India’s perspective to these Muslim countries, and it wants to use all possible support to effectively convey the message.
The group is engaging with key political leaders, government officials, civil society representatives, and think tanks in these countries.
Its members are addressing questions, responding to concerns, and presenting a unified image of India to the people in these countries.
“Prime Minister have made it very clear, we will have talks only on two issues. Because they have been illegally occupying. When we got independent, the different parts went to different countries, Pakistan, India, and the British put up a system,” said Panda, addressing a gathering.
“By that system, Jammu and Kashmir signed and came to us. And Pakistan illegally occupied. And we have been having talks ever since. And war and talks and war and terrorist attacks. So, we will have talks only on two issues with Pakistan. That return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and stop of terrorism,” he said.
“Now, if they know what to do to get us to respond. They have to take action on the terrorists who are openly operating on their soil,” he added.
Through these interactions and meetings, the delegation also aims to shape the views of key Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members about India’s perspective.
“With all clarity, we are articulating who is treating minorities how in their countries. After independence, India’s Muslim population was 9 per cent or 10 per cent. Now it is about 20 per cent and on the other hand minority Hindu population in Pakistan was 13 per cent and now it is 1 per cent. So Pakistan is treating its minorities badly and also impacting India with terror. We have been able to communicate this too,” said BJP MP Nishikant Dube.
The message is of peace. The message is that India wants peace but will have zero tolerance for any form of terrorism.
Besides Panda, Owaisi and Dube, former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, ex-National chairperson of the National Commission for Women and Rajya Sabha MP Rekha Sharma are also among the delegation members.
On Monday, the delegation reached Kuwait from Bahrain to highlight India’s zero-tolerance stance against terrorism.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives. India carried out precision strikes as part of Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.
It was followed by Pakistan’s attempt to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.
The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides May 10.
PTI
