Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto slams Rs 2-cr bounty on his head for anti-Modi remark

Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party after its party leader allegedly announced a Rs 2-crore bounty on his head over the objectionable remarks he recently made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Zardari doubled down on his “butcher of Gujarat” comment against PM Modi and said his remarks were based on "historical fact", but the BJP was interpreting it as a “personal insult”.

“A member of Mr Modi’s party has announced Rs 20 million (2 crore) bounty on my head. So I don’t think the best way to disprove the fact that Mr Modi is the ‘butcher of Gujarat’ is to adopt such extreme steps,” he said.

He, however, stated that he considered the threats against him by the BJP leader as “crossing the line”.

“I think you have crossed the line when you officially announce head money for your neighbouring country’s foreign minister’s assassination,” the Pakistani foreign minister said.

As the BJP staged nationwide protests against Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's objectionable remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a local party leader in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday said he would give Rs 2-crore reward to anyone beheading the Pakistani foreign minister.

Manupal Bansal, a member of zila panchayat of Baghpat, made the announcement while addressing a protest gathering at the collectorate here.

''Main ailaan kartaa hoon ki jo uss mantri Bilawal Bhutto kaa dhar se saar alag karegaa, 2 crore kaa inaam mai doongaa (I declare that I will give a reward of Rs 2 crore to anyone who will behead minister Bilawal Bhutto),'' Bansal said.

Later speaking to PTI, Bansal said he stood by his statement.

''Yes, I have made that statement today. If they are saying such things about our prime minister, whom we respect a lot, then we are not going to tolerate such a person. We are having tremendous attachment with our prime minister, and if we have to do anything for him, we will have no problem,'' Bansal told PTI.