By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that India was never historically a single country but a vast subcontinent with hundreds of independent states. Speaking in Islamabad, Asif said history shows that what we call India today has always been a region made up of many entities, not a unified nation.
Asif said, “There was a time when more than 500 princely states existed in the subcontinent. Even during Muslim rule, India was only briefly united, stretching from Badakhshan to Bengal.” Referring to the present-day situation, Asif claimed that India is now home to dozens of armed freedom and separatist movements.
Defence Minister suggested that leaders like Narendra Modi, when they rise to power, end up dividing countries rather than uniting them. “Hinduism has dozens of sects, and even a handshake with someone from a lower caste is considered enough to defile one’s religion,” he said. Calling Prime Minister Modi “an ignorant man,” Asif dismissed the idea of an “Akhand Bharat” — a vision of a unified greater India — as unrealistic and driven by extremism.
